KMGH 7News Airs Gay Wedding Clips When Discussing Ref. I

Denver’s Channel 7 is getting criticism for not being clear enough on the differences between domestic partnerships and gay marriage.

Colorado Media Matters reports that the station aired clips of gay weddings while discussing Referendum I, a measure that would make domestic partnerships a reality for gay and lesbian couples. 

In the measure’s own language however, it states that domestic partnerships are “not a Marriage” and that marriage “consists of the union of one man and one woman.” From the report:

In contrast, a September 19 Rocky Mountain News article by reporter Myung Oak Kim, headlined “Marriage line drawn: Voters favor rights, but not weddings for same-sex couples,” cited Republican pollster Lori Weigel, who said, “The measure ‘explicitly states that this is not marriage … and that is allowing some people to support both [Referendum I and Amendment 43]’.”

Furthermore, the campaign website of Coloradans for Fairness and Equality, the chief backer of Referendum I, displays the slogan, “It’s not marriage. It’s basic legal rights.” Additionally, the 7News segment included video of an interview with campaign manager Sean Duffy, showing a poster behind him displaying that slogan:

Amendment 43 is a different ballot measure, which seeks to define marriage as between one man and one woman in the Colorado constitution.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.

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