USA Today: Amazon’s Bezos gives $2.5M to gay marriage fight

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced today a $2.5 million donation to defend same-sex marriage in Washington state, instantly boosting the bank account of a group trying to pass a ballot measure this fall.

Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, are contributing to Washington United for Marriage, the group that is supporting Referendum 74. The ballot initiative seeks to uphold a law passed by the Washington legislature earlier this year.

“This is a huge deal,” Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, told USA TODAY in a phone interview. “Winning at the ballot box costs millions and we need our straight friends and supporters to step up.”

Washington, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota all have measures on the November ballot dealing with same-sex marriage.

The donation from the Bezoses doubles the amount raised by the group supporting the ballot initiative. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer have each donated $100,000 to the pro-Referendum 74 effort, the Associated Press reports.

Bezos joins some prominent members of the financial world, all of them Republicans, in backing gay marriage.

Paul Singer, the billionaire behind Elliott Management, recently contributed $150,000 to Freedom to Marry, which fights for gay marriage across the nation. Singer is notable in part because he has also donated $1 million to Restore Our Future, the super PAC that supports Mitt Romney.

Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is opposed to gay marriage but supports rights for gay couples who want to adopt children.

Other notable contributors to Freedom to Marry from the financial world: Cliff Asness, founder of AQR Capital Management, Seth Klarman of Baupost, and investor Dan Loeb.

The donation by Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos was first reported this morning by The New York Times.

sirbartonslady submitted: (Emphasis mine.) Thought you might like to post something awesome that billionaires have done in support of marriage equality. Saw this, cheered and decided that I will definitely continue supporting Amazon, as this is awesome.