The group sponsoring the legal challenge to California’s same-sex marriage ban announced Thursday that a recent fundraiser by conservative supporters in New York brought in more than $1.2 million for the effort.
An estimated 200 people attended the September 22 invitation-only event, held at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Manhattan. The fundraiser drew much media attention last month when one of its co-hosts, Ken Mehlman, former Republican National Committee Chairman, came out as gay in a magazine article. Joining Mehlman as co-hosts were hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who told the audience he has an openly gay son, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
According to a press release from the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was the beneficiary of the fundraiser, high-profile guests included the daughter of President George W. Bush, Barbara; Democratic activist David Mixner, and former Massachusetts Republican Governor William Weld, among others.
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When I first saw the headline above I thought that the money had been raised to defend Prop 8. Upon reading the article I happily realized that the money had been raised to help in the fight to eliminate it.
That significant numbers of conservatives are now fighting in favor of marriage equality is a very good sign. The idea would have been almost unthinkable just a few years ago. Let us hope that this trend continues.