The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) has donated $250,000 to the campaign that opposes Maine's
referendum seeking to legalize gay marriage.
NOM on Thursday transferred the money
to the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, the AP
reported.
Marriage equality supporters are
returning the issue to the ballot box after voters in 2009 narrowly
repealed a marriage law approved by lawmakers with a “people's
veto,” known as Question 1. If approved, Maine would become the
first state to legalize such unions with a popular vote.
Frank Schubert, campaign manager for
Protect Marriage, called the upcoming vote “critical.”
“It is a critical race for the
survival of the institution of marriage in this country,” Schubert
said. “It's a race that the entire nation is looking at and will
have an impact far beyond the borders of Maine.”
Schubert, who led the campaign for
passage of California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, is also
managing campaigns in three states where the issue will appear on the
ballot: Maryland, Washington and Minnesota.
(Related: Maine
gay marriage referendum tightens.)