A U.S. map accompanying a September 9 Denver Post article regarding the two Colorado ballot measures related to gay marriage and domestic partnerships designated five states as allowing "[d]omestic partnership or civil union." But it did not indicate that four of those states also have statutory bans on same-sex marriage, creating the misleading impression that civil unions are not allowed in any states that ban same-sex marriage. Also, the Post listed the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) as one source of information for the map but did not state that the group was co-founded by Dr. James Dobson, leader of the conservative group Focus on the Family, which objects to domestic partnerships.

The map titled “Same-sex marriage policies in the U.S.” color-coded five states (in green) as allowing "[d]omestic partnership or civil union" without also indicating that four of them -- California, Maine, Connecticut, and Vermont -- have statutory bans on same-sex marriage. The map also labeled Hawaii (in orange) as having an amendment “banning same-sex marriage” without noting it also has a reciprocal beneficiaries law for same-sex couples.

The Post article stated that one possible outcome of Colorado's November election could be the simultaneous passage of Amendment 43, which would constitutionally ban same-sex marriage, and Referendum I, which would allow same-sex domestic partnerships, thus effectively “banning same-sex marriage but allowing [same-sex] couples certain legal rights.” But the Post failed to show on the accompanying map where in the United States such policies coexist.

The map cited as one of its sources the ADF, co-founded by Dr. James Dobson. According to a Denver Post column by Cindy Rodriguez, Dobson “has called gay people sick, has suggested that they accept pedophilia, and rails against what he calls a 'gay agenda' bent on 'destroying marriage.' ”

Dobson also is the founder of the Colorado Springs-based right-wing Christian organization Focus on the Family, which, according to The Gazette of Colorado Springs, “spent more than $500,000 to support a constitutional amendment to block same-sex marriage in Colorado [Amendment 43].” The San Francisco Chronicle also reported that “Focus on the Family objects to domestic partnerships partially because they are a stepping-stone to marriage and also because they are 'discriminatory.' ”

Despite stating in the September 9 article that “Coloradans could pass either, neither or even both measures [Referendum I and Amendment 43], thereby banning same-sex marriage but allowing couples certain legal rights,” the Post map did not indicate that five states -- California, Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, and Hawaii -- ban same-sex marriage yet provide some form of civil union rights. While none of those five states have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, each effectively bans same-sex marriage through marriage-defining statutes. The Post map, by labeling only states with “amendments banning same-sex marriage,” excluded states that have statutory bans.*

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Vermont, for example, “chose to preserve marriage as the 'legally recognized union of one man and one woman,' but at the same time create a parallel system of civil unions for same-sex couples that goes beyond existing 'domestic partnership' and 'reciprocal beneficiaries' laws that exist in California and Hawaii and in many localities in the U.S. today.” Similarly, Connecticut passed civil union legislation for same-sex couples in April 2005, which specifically reiterated the existing state statute defining marriage as between a man and a woman. And Maine's statute states, “Persons of the same sex may not contract marriage,” yet, according to NCSL, “provides some state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples.”

Of the five states shown on the Post's map as allowing "[d]omestic partnership or civil union" (in green), New Jersey is the only state without either an amendment or a statute banning same-sex marriage. Nonetheless, in 2004, Attorney General Peter Harvey threatened to prosecute Asbury Park city officials for illegally issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing lower state court decisions rejecting same-sex marriage. A New Jersey Supreme Court decision is pending on whether a prohibition of same-sex marriage violates the state's constitution. The map also did not identify 11 states with statutory definitions of marriage prohibiting same-sex marriage: Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wyoming.

*The Post's map appears to suggest inaccurately that Hawaii has a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. In fact, Hawaii's constitutional amendment states, “The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples” and the state's legislature has passed a law doing so.