http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/10/27/ap5608493.htmlOn the no side , wealthy individuals making million-dollar gifts account for all but one of the gay marriage ban's top six opponents. The California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, is first, having pledged $1.3 million to fight the initiative.
Giving $1 million or more were retired New York hedge fund manager Robert W. Wilson; GeoCities founder David Bohnett; Jon Stryker (nyse: SYK - news - people ), an heir to a Michigan media supplies company; WordPerfect software founder and Utah resident Bruce Bastian; and philanthropist David Maltz of Cleveland.
"I think this is a civil liberties issue, and California tends to be a bellwether state in this country and what happens there often spreads around," said Wilson, a longtime patron of the New York Public Library and the Whitney Museum of American Art. "I don't see any argument in favor of barring queer marriage."
The contest also has drawn contributions from notable names in government, business and entertainment, most opposing the measure. Among them: Hollywood producer Stephen Bing ($500,000); actor Brad Pitt ($100,000); producer George Lucas and Lucas Films ($100,000 combined); director Steven Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw ($100,000); talk show host Ellen DeGeneres ($100,000); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's campaign fund ($10,000); audio systems inventor Ray Dolby and his wife, Dagmar ($135,000); and personal finance guru Suze Orman ($10,000).
Nearly three-quarters of the total contributions have been from individuals or institutions based in California, with the rest from out of state or from 90 international donors, representing areas from England to Italy and Thailand to Taiwan. Nearly all international contributors opposed the measure.
The measure's opponents received a greater share of their money from outside the state or country - 33 percent compared with the 19 percent of out-of-state contributions reported by the initiative's backers.
Apart from California, the states whose residents and institutions have invested the most in the contest are New York ($2.5 million), Michigan ($1.6 million), Utah (1.5 million) and Connecticut ($1.4 million). Connecticut is about to become the third U.S. state to sanction same-sex marriage.