Minnesotans United for All Families, the group opposing a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage, released its first online ads of the campaign season on Thursday.
The first ad is running online and paid for by Project 515 Education Campaign, an organization promoting equal rights for same-sex couples. The group put up $120,000 for the three-month campaign, which will run on major news sites in the state and other high-trafficked local websites. Minnesotans United for All Families also put out their own minute-long ad. That ad’s campaign hasn’t yet been specified, the group’s press secretary, Kate Brickman, told TPM.
Project 515’s ad — titled “We Believe” — tells the love stories of several married couples. “None of us would want to be told that it’s illegal to marry the person that you love,” a woman in the ad says. “Marriage matters, for everyone,” the narrators add. The second ad highlights the 31-year (and counting) marriage of Saint Paul residents Kate Wulf and Marianne Christianson.
The ads mark the beginning of campaign season for the group in Minnesota. The Twin Cities’ Gay Pride Festival kicks off this weekend, which draws hundreds of thousands of people to the metropolitan area. The group hopes to sign on thousands of volunteers over the weekend.
“You’re going to see us at every facet of Pride this weekend, then you’re going to be seeing us pretty much everywhere,” Brickman said.
Voters in November will decide the fate of the marriage amendment. Recent polling shows momentum shifting against the amendment. Minnesotans United for All Families announced this week that it has raised $3.1 million from more than 16,000 contributors since January. Minnesota for Marriage, the group supporting the amendment, has raised $1.4 million since January. Brickman acknowledged her organization still has a lot of work to do over the coming months.
“It’s going to look and sound like campaign season from now until November 6,” she said.
Watch “We Believe”:
Watch “Kate & Marianne”:
