Two against Amendment 2

With the biggest gay rights battle in Florida's history looming on the November ballot, you would think that Amendment 2 opponents would be gathered under a single battle flag.

But it's not quite that easy.

Two separate political action committees have formed to oppose the anti-gay marriage referendum; they compete for money while at the same time cooperate to get the same message out. Blame the dueling PACs on partisan politics, ideology and — to a lesser degree — personalities. One PAC is pointedly bipartisan, while the other doesn't identify with a party but is extremely pro-Democrat and progressive. It's not that they aren't both working against the amendment; they just can't seem to do it under one roof.

"Personally, I am of the opinion that it is unfortunate that they went two separate ways," said Jim Pease, the president of the Tampa Bay Log Cabin Republicans who is aligned with one of the competing yet cooperating groups, Florida Red and Blue. "Together as one unified front, as one single message, it would be better."

The older of the two organizations, Fairness for All Families, is an offshoot of the longtime human rights organization Equality Florida, a pro-Democrat group headquartered in Tampa Bay with a wide-ranging gay rights agenda. Its campaign is called Vote No On 2.

Florida Red and Blue is based in South Florida, its name a nod to its goal of putting a bipartisan face on the fight against discrimination. It has the advantage of having some wealthy gay Republicans on board, and it has more than $1.5 million in the bank to show for it. Its campaign is called SayNo2.

Both efforts are fiercely opposed to Amendment 2, which will not only re-ban gay marriage (it's already against Florida law for same-sex couples to marry) but could also impact domestic partnership benefits for unmarried straight couples.

Some in the gay community worry that having two separate groups will dilute the money available to campaign against Floridians 4 Marriage, the Orlando-based, right-wing political committee that put the issue on the ballot. Does the split doom the effort against Amendment 2?

The answer — at least so far — is no.

"The short answer is that there is room for both organizations," said Stephen Gaskill, communications director for Florida Red and Blue. "We each have our own strengths and bring different things to the fight."

"We all are getting along great, and it's going to be a wonderful campaign," said Bill Newton, executive director of Florida Consumer Action Network in Tampa and board member of Fairness for All Families.

By all accounts — both from those who spoke publicly about the relationship and those who would do so only on background — the two groups are working together, sharing data and polling results, and staying on message: that the amendment isn't just anti-gay but could hurt plenty of people in Florida. Members from both groups travel to the same fund-raising events and even list a few of the same people on their advisory boards.

Beyond that, let's just say that the two groups have a different vibe.

Fairness for All Families was formed first, three years ago when it first looked like conservative activists would get a same-sex marriage prohibition onto the ballot. Leveraging its longtime fight for gay rights in the state and its work lobbying in Tallahassee, Fairness for All Families began building a large coalition of grassroots and activist groups, almost all progressive. For some in this group, it is tough to work with Republicans of any stripe, even gay, moderate ones.

Florida Red and Blue was founded by a coterie of Democratic and Republican gay activists, with help from Democratic political consultant Derek Newton. Within 60 days of its formation, the group banked $1 million with the help of savvy fund-raising gay advocates such as Jim Stork, the former mayor of Wilton Manors. Its chairman is Jon Kislak, a big-time GOP fundraiser who served as a finance chairman to Bill McCollum.

"The intention was really to reach out to all Floridians and show that this is not about just gay or straight, Democrat or Republican, but that it impacts all people in the state of Florida," Gaskill said. The founders wanted "to create an independent organ, free of any ties to any other organization, solely to defeat Amendment 2. That's what Red and Blue is. Equality Florida will, and should, continue to exist beyond Nov 8. We won't."

The problem for some gay Republicans involved in Red and Blue is they view Fairness' founders as "militant" and don't share their agenda outside of the marriage issue.

The two groups discussed merging, even held at least one face-to-face meeting, but in the end agreed to stay separate.

"We work closely with Fairness, and we share information and coordinate efforts where possible," Gaskill said, "and that's the course we decided to stay."

"It's not a bad thing," said Barbara DeVane, a Fairness board member and Tallahassee-based activist, "because the more the merrier."