Souforce marches on Focus

Soulforce marches on Focus

By Perry Swanson, The Colorado Springs Gazette, July 20, 2006

About 20 gay-rights activists marched for miles under a hot sun Wednesday, bound for a Saturday rally at the Colorado Springs headquarters of the Christian ministry Focus on the Family.

The marchers, part of the gay-rights group Soulforce, criticized Focus as a leading voice in opposition to gay marriage and rights for gay parents. Focus founder James Dobson was a particular target - he has called gay marriage and parents a threat to traditional families.

Marcher Jami Armstrong wore a sign on her back that read "Mr. Dobson," and her partner Kelly Shinn had a sign continuing the statement: "Who can argue with love?"

Armstrong and Shinn, both social workers from the Denver area, have been together nearly four years. Shinn said Focus and Dobson damage "marginalized" people, including gays.

"He's representing this movement, he's leading this movement, and people need to be held accountable for their actions or lack of action," she said.

The Soulforce 1,000 Watt March began Monday in Denver and culminates Saturday with a demonstration and concert outside the Focus on the Family headquarters off Briargate Parkway. Soulforce argues that Focus commits "spiritual violence" against gays.

Bill Maier, a Focus vice president and psychologist, said Soulforce and other pro-gay groups falsely portray the ministry's position. Maier said the ministry acknowledges that gay people can form loving relationships, love their children and deserve respect and dignity. He said the debate over gay marriage and families should explore other questions.

"It is about whether men and women complement and complete each other in their differences," Maier said. "It's about whether mothers and fathers play unique and irreplaceable roles in the lives of their children precisely because of their gender."

The Soulforce march along Colorado Highway 83 is one of several events related to gay rights playing out across the state. Colorado Springs is the scene of competing advertising campaigns that debate whether gay people were born that way. Focus is sponsoring a campaign arguing that homosexuality is preventable and treatable.

The other campaign, featuring a dog that says "moo," argues gay people were born different.

The marchers Wednesday were divided into several groups, and only one group walked at a time while the others waited inside a charter bus. Some of the marchers are staying at a hotel across the street from the ministry headquarters.

Colorado Springs residents Cindy Solomon and Shari Klebba joined the march Wednesday with their daughter, 2-yearold Samantha Solomon-Klebba. Religious faith was a main reason behind the decision to join the march, Solomon said.

"We're Christians, and it's important for us to show people God has created this beautiful family," she said.

Solomon and Klebba have been together 11 years. They were granted a civil union in Vermont in 2000, they said, and were legally married in Canada a year ago.

Klebba is the adoptive mother of the couple's daughter, and Solomon was recently awarded the status of her legal guardian, she said. Being a legal guardian involves making an annual report to a judge, Solomon said.

"That's very, very irksome," she said.

"It's just another indication that in this country gay parents are not considered equal to straight parents," Klebba said.

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