Outspent: Arizona Marriage Ban Backers Raise 17 Times More Than Opponents

Not good.

Supporters of a measure that would change Arizona’s constitution to ban gay marriage have raised $6.9 million, 17 times more than opponents have raised, according to figures released Thursday.

Supporters of Proposition 102 say the money they’ve gotten signifies broad support against gay marriage among Arizonans. Opponents say the measure is a waste of time and money, considering the state voted down a similar measure in 2006 and gay marriage already is illegal in Arizona.

Either way, the money gives backers of the ban an edge over opponents, said Fred Solop, a political pollster at Northern Arizona University. "That’s an indication that there is obviously support for this ban," Solop said. "Clearly people feel very strongly about this issue - this is one of those moral issues that strikes at the very core of voters."

The ballot proposal, which goes before voters Nov. 4, would amend the state’s constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

"This is clearly an uphill battle," said Marty Rouse, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization that donated $50,000 to opponents of Arizona’s measure.

The Arizona state court outlawed same-sex marriage in 2003. The current effort would enshrine that discrimination in the state constitution.