Spielberg Adds
$100K to the No on 8 Campaign

Steven Spielberg and his spouse, Kate Capshaw, followed in the footsteps of Brad Pitt and chipped in a $100,000 donation to fight Proposition 8, the constitutional marriage amendment that would take away the rights of gays and lesbians to marry in California.

"By writing discrimination into our state constitution, Proposition 8 seeks to eliminate the right of each and every citizen in our state to marry regardless of sexual orientation," the couple said in a written statement released Monday. "Such discrimination has NO place in California's constitution, or any other."

Despite a recent spate of celebrity gifts to defeat the ban, backers of the measure are still winning the money game, outraising the No on 8 campaign $17.8 million to $12.4 million, according to Tuesday's Los Angeles Times.

Financial backing is critical to the ability of both sides to air ads promoting their position, with weekly spots costing anywhere from $3.5 million to $5 million in order to ensure that state voters view them seven to 10 times.

Alongside the cash injection from the entertainment industry, the Los Angeles Times reports that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom will attend a $5,000-per-person New York fund-raiser Thursday with New York State governor David Paterson, a longtime supporter of marriage equality. (The Advocate)