Barking up the gay tree

UNITED STATES - It is high summer in Colorado Springs and its citizens are living through dog days. From buses and billboards, television advertisements and film trailers jumps the face of Norman, a brown and white spaniel puppy with large floppy ears. Norman is like any other spaniel puppy - except that he moos. You see, Norman was born different.

Norman's canine opponent in Colorado Springs is Sherman, a dog of unidentified breed which features in a less extensive rival advertisement campaign. Sherman barks.

He, you understand, was born a dog. He would never moo. Furthermore, in the unlikely event he felt tempted to, Sherman would take active steps to "cure" himself of such unnatural behaviour.

Norman and Sherman are somewhat unlikely proxy participants in the latest skirmish in the culture wars that continue to divide the US over issues that proved crucial in the 2004 presidential contest and are poised to play a crucial role in the Congressional elections this November.

Norman the mooing spaniel is the creation of gay rights activists who support measures such as the right for gay couples to marry and receive the same protections as straight couples.

The US$900,000 ($1.5 million) Born Different campaign, funded by the Denver-based Gill Foundation, argues that gay people are born gay and that to discriminate against them would be no different from discriminating against any other minority group.

"This is Norman. He's just like every other dog except for one thing," says the voiceover in an ad on the Born Different website, as Norman moos with bovine aplomb. "Norman never chose to be different. He was just born this way. Norman is not the only one in the Springs who is different."

By contrast, Sherman is the creation of Focus On The Family (FOTF), a powerful, conservative Christian organisation based in Colorado Springs and headed by Dr James Dobson, whose daily radio broadcast is heard by 200 million people worldwide and whose organisation opposes gay marriage with as much vigour and passion as those gay activists who argue in its favour.

Dobson is one of the country's most influential evangelicals and he wields considerable political power. He also counsels women not to work outside the home until their children have grown up and he warns that people should think long and hard before marrying a person of a different race.

"This is Sherman. He's a dog," says the advert on the website of the FOTF campaign, No-Moo-Lies. "He barks. Why? Because that's what dogs do."

It continues: "If he could talk he'd tell you to keep your eyes and ears open between now and November to make sure you hear the truth about what marriage should mean in Colorado. Sure, making a dog sound like a cow is cute, but messing with marriage, the building block of all societies, is not. Indeed, it would be a dog-gone shame."

One might be tempted to dismiss the rival campaigns as some light-hearted fun. But behind these grinning mutts is a bitter struggle. In Colorado - as in Wisconsin, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and possibly Illinois and Arizona - voters electing their senator and representatives will also be asked to decide whether state laws should be changed to grant or ban same-sex couples the right to marry.

As things stand, gay marriage is only legal in Massachusetts. Last month, a court in Washington State voted 5-4 that there was no Constitutional right to same-sex marriage, though three of the judges asked lawmakers to lift the ban because of "the clear hardship" it was causing gay couples and their children.

Gay rights campaigners say polls show they are steadily winning the argument, especially among younger voters. Studies conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found though 51 per cent of Americans opposed gay civil unions, that had fallen from more than 60 per cent in 2004. It said 59 per cent still opposed gay marriage.

Molly McKay, of Marriage Equality USA, said: "These initiatives are last-ditch efforts to shut down the debate. The polls show that people are coming our way. There is an age demographic - older people are not in favour of gay marriage but for younger people it is a non-issue."

It would appear McKay's claim is not fully supported by the Pew report, which found that even among younger Americans a slight majority disapprove of gay marriage, but the report concludes: "People in their early 30s today have a relatively favourable view of gay marriage and their views are similar to those of younger generations. But those in their late 30s are much more opposed; in fact, opposition is as widespread in this group as among people in their 40s and 50s."

There is little doubt that the gay marriage issue will be important in November, even in states where there is no ballot initiative. Indeed, in 2004, such amendments were used in 11 states by Republicans to encourage strong turn-out.

Political scientists still disagree about whether a gay marriage amendment in Ohio was the crucial issue that drew up conservatives to vote in such numbers, thus securing George Bush the state and his re-election.

But Larry Sabato, Professor of politics at the University of Virginia, said: "They had some effect, especially in Ohio, which re-elected Bush. It probably generated a lot of additional rural support among conservatives. There are still those arguing that Bush would have won anyway. But I don't think there is any question [it helped]."

Of the effect the initiatives could have in November, he added: "It is bound to help Republicans generate rural turnout though you have to realise some of the differences from two years ago.

"In 2004, the issue of gay marriage was new and more potent [and] these days there are some other issues that people care about. Iraq stirs passions, [petrol] prices stir passions, Bush stirs passions."

Bush has already laid his cards on the table by saying he supports an amendment to the US Constitution that would define marriage in the US as a union of one man and one woman. A vote on such a proposed bill failed 49-48 in the US Senate this June.

Sabato pointed out that gay marriage is just one of many populist wedge issues US politicians have seized on over the years and used to organise political support. Another is abortion, an issue that has been effectively used by conservatives as a rallying cry to lure voters to the polls.

The mountain city of Colorado Springs is an ideal venue for this latest of America's culture clashes. Two hours' drive south of Denver, the city was last year described in an article in Harper's magazine as "home to the greatest concentration of fundamentalist Christian activist groups in American history".

Among the vast churches with huge congregations is the New Life Church, headed by Pastor Ted Haggard. Though the church has a congregation of around 14,000, it is not - by some way - the largest church in the US. But it may be the most influential.

Haggard played a crucial role in organising evangelical support for Bush in the last election and it is reported that every Monday he speaks by telephone with the President or one of his advisers.

If Haggard holds this rarefied position at the pinnacle of political influence, Dobson is not far below. The writer and psychologist came to public prominence with a book, Dare to Discipline, that said it was acceptable for parents to use corporal punishment.

As well as establishing FOTF, he set up a political organisation, the Family Research Council, which lobbies in Washington on conservative issues and has a reported budget of around US$10 million.

FOTF told me no one was available to talk about its latest campaign, but Dobson has said the defence of the traditional family is more important than the so-called "war on terror".

He has said heterosexual marriage is the "the bedrock of culture in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and even Antarctica". He believes homosexuality is a disorder that can be "cured".

Gay rights campaigners in Colorado believe Norman the mooing puppy has played an important role in forcing people to think about the issue. Mary Lou Makepeace, director of the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, a participant in the Gill Foundation's campaign, said though Colorado Springs was a "wonderful place", some people were "buttoned-down" and disinclined to discuss issues such as gay marriage.

But Norman changed that and forced people to talk. "They can have a conversation they would not normally have," she said. "People like Norman. For that matter they like Sherman ... You have this conversation going on in the community.'

- INDEPENDENT