Oct 17, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

Same-sex marriage supporters have responded to a call for help from the campaign fighting a proposed initiative banning gay nuptials in California by donating up to $1 million a day to the campaign, but officials say the increased donations must continue if the measure is to be defeated.

On Oct. 7, officials with the “No on 8” campaign, which is fighting the proposed state constitutional amendment known as Proposition 8, held a conference call to sound the alarm on challenges facing the campaign. Officials on the call, including Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors, said rivals had out-raised them by about $10 million and internal polls reveal that California voters favor the initiative by a 47-42 margin.

“No on 8” called for increased donations to confront the challenges facing the campaign and increase public support.

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said following the call there was a “tremendous response” from donors. The donations per day have totaled between $500,000 and $1 million, she said.

“The bad news is that that is the pace we really have to maintain until Election Day if we’re going to compete … effectively,” she said.

Notable donations in the days following the conference call include $500,000 from Equality California, a total of $100,000 from T.R. Knight, a gay actor on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” nearly $17,000 from the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Services Center and $10,000 from personal finance guru Suze Orman.

The increased donations will allow the campaign to air TV ads to counter those run by same-sex marriage opponents, which “No on 8” officials have decried as being untrue, Kendell said.

One TV ad in favor of Prop 8 depicts San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) at the end of a speech declaring the same-sex marriage is “going to happen, whether you like it or not.” The ad also claims that if Prop 8 fails, people opposed to same-sex marriage could be sued for their beliefs, churches that do not perform gay nuptials could lose their tax-exempt status and public schools would be required to teach about same-sex marriage.

Mark Leno, a gay lawmaker who represents San Francisco in California’s General Assembly, said there has been a “relentless pounding” from these “Yes on 8” ads that are “distorting the facts and really spreading lies about what Prop 8 will and will not do, and it has taken a toll.”

To counter the ad, “No on 8” is airing a commercial in which lesbian comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres describes how voting for Prop 8 would be harmful to her, emphasizing that her marriage was the “happiest day” of her life.

“There are people out there raising millions of dollars to try and take that right away from me,” she says. “You’ve seen their ads on TV. They’re twisting the truth, and they’re trying to scare you.”

Those familiar with the California campaign had different responses when asked why polls on Prop 8 have changed significantly in a short amount of time. While internal polling from “No on 8” recently found that California voters favor the amendment with 47-42 margin, earlier data had shown the initiative losing. One earlier survey, published Aug. 27 by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that the amendment would lose by 54-40 margin.

Leno said internal polling for the campaign never suggested that same-sex marriage supporters were enjoying the lead indicated by earlier polls.

Dan Pinello, a gay government professor at the City University of New York, said there are two politicians who could make a difference in the fight against Prop 8: Barack Obama and Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Noting that blacks are statistically the least supportive of same-sex marriage, Pinello said Obama “could contact leaders of the African-American community in California” and ask them to oppose the measure.

Schwarzenegger (R), who opposes Prop 8, could also provide help by speaking out against the amendment, Pinello said.