Cash Flow Drying Up for Antigay Prop. 8 Supporters

For the third year in a row, the antigay group defending California's Proposition 8 in court failed to raise more money than it spent, according to tax documents reviewed by Reuters.

ProtectMarriage.com, which stepped in to defend the voter-approved ban on marriage equality in court after California's governor refused to do so, showed a $2 million deficit in its legal fund at the end of 2011, reports Reuters. The organization says it has since recovered the shortfall, but an attorney for the group told Reuters that ProtectMarriage.com is still $70,000 short on its fundraising for Supreme Court costs.

In late March, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the Prop. 8 case, known as Hollingsworth v. Perry. The defendant-intervenors, ProtectMarriage.com, hope to reconcile their funding shortfall before that date, and sent an email to supporters asking for increased donations.

"Unless the pace of donations starts to pick up right away, we could soon be forced over a financial cliff," said the email, sent earlier this month.

ProtectMarriage.com's financial woes are symptomatic of a larger decrease in funding for antigay groups, reports Reuters. In last November's elections, marriage equality opponents were "vastly outspent in four state ballot campaigns," and lost each of those contests, notes Reuters.

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