Anti-gay-marriage forces lead in cash just weeks from election *

As this endless election cycle grinds to a mud-slinging close, the tug of war continues over Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that would write a ban on gay marriage into the California Constitution.

High-profile donations have flowed to both sides of the debate. Last month, Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg gave sizable chunks of change to oppose Proposition 8. In August, the Knights of Columbus kicked in a cool million to ensure that only a man and woman can ever say "I do" in the Golden State. Even Google has weighed in.

Now, with less than a month to go, fund-raising by Proposition 8 supporters has outstripped that of opponents. What does this mean for Nov. 4? Our own Jessica Garrison has the details:

Although the Yes on 8 campaign has not yet posted its latest fund-raising report, supporters said Tuesday that they have raised at least $25 million, compared with $15.75 million raised by the other side.

"As a result of not being able to match dollar for dollar, we have seen a change," said Geoff Kors, the executive director of Equality California, which is fighting Proposition 8, the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

The announcement pleased supporters of Proposition 8. "I can understand their concern," said Sonja Eddings Brown, spokeswoman for the Protect Marriage Coalition.

Although other polls throughout the summer have consistently shown Proposition 8 failing, she pointed to another recent poll, from CBS and SurveyUSA, which showed the measure leading slightly.

Behind the dollars and sentiments the question remains -- is marriage a state of the soul, or sole discretion of the state?

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

* An additional hyphen was added to the headline of this post for clarity.

Comments

[Christy]

I vote NO for Prop. 8. I'm a strong believer for any human being in love, wanting to be married, that's fantastic, straight or gay. Period.

[Andrea Ventura]

To REVREND MOTHER and many other against PROP 8

Obviously your not a Revrends mother, BECAUSE CHRISTIAN people are against same sex marriage! I myself happen to be Christian. Now we are not against gay people but we are against same sex marriage. Im a 15 year old in high school and i have gay freinds and bisexual friends, but i still say YES TO PROP 8! Just because i have friends doesnt mean im going to say no. Many young people who can vote are only voting no on prop 8 because they have friends who are gay or lesbian or bi even tho maybe deep down they know its wrong. I for one don't want my child to knowing that its ok for gays and lesbians to get married. Its wrong. i love my friends but i just dont think it should be exposed to little kids, thats just going to confuse kids and we will have many confused kids.

*VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 8!*

[Ian]

Okay lets talk rationality people for one minute. This is America right. The land of the free. Our Country based its belief system that law and religion should not be mixed. Okay so anyone one that uses religion as a means to say no to gay marriage SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN. Okay next on line, people who are think being gay is wrong. Okay so being gay is a out of the ordinary but so is birth defects, should we kill a mothers child just because it has down syndrome or it was born without eyes? So anyone saying gay marriage is wrong because it is unnatural you SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN. Now for people who say no to gay marriage because they are worried about the children. Are you perfect, do you raise perfect children? You just like the other parents that care try your hardest to raise your children right. So how are you raising your children right if you show your children that you don't want gay people to get married. Isn't that prejudice? That isn't what we should teach our children. If you teach children that we tolerate people for who they are as long as they don't cause physical pain and emotional pain of others then whats wrong with that picture? So the people who say no to gay marriage because they are worried about the children you SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN. So basically there is no logical explanation as to why we should deny gay people the right to marry their soul mates. That is what are government needs to do is have all the people that oppose gay marriage to gather and have these questions asked to them. If they respond irrationaly they should be told to SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN. Any bucks that there wont be anyone standing to oppose gay marriage because they oppose for selfish fear induced paranoia.

[Michael]

This is a great example of how the gay rights movement is totally out of touch with the rest of the country. The definition of a gay person is whom they choose to have sex with. Since it is illegal to have sex in public, then sex in private is "legal". Sex in private is not a constitutional law issue. Simply put, your private sex lives have NO RIGHTS!!!

Nor is this about “Love”. A bird may love a fish, but where will they build a home?

[Doug]

This is a human rights issue, most importantly.