Ellen DeGeneres donates $100,000 to ‘No on Prop 8’ campaign
According to reports, popular TV show host Ellen DeGeneres donated $100,000 to the No on Proposition 8 campaign, to fight California’s Prop 8 initiative once again banning same-sex marriage in the state.
According to the No on Prop. 8 campaign, Ellen’s donation goes towards a media buy aimed at encouraging those in her state to vote ‘No’ on the ballot initiative, which seeks to define marriage in the California Constitution as between a man and a woman.
Ellen’s hefty donation - which comes after a host of gay rights bloggers called her out for not donating immediately to fight the proposition - will help purchase TV time to air a public service announcement filmed for the ‘No on 8’ campaign, attempting to sway voters.
Earlier this week, Ellen DeGeneres released a video asking Californians to “please, please vote no on Prop 8.” In the video, DeGeneres talks about her own wedding to partner Portia de Rossi, saying: “I got to do something this year I never thought I’d ever be able to do: I got married,” and claiming “it was the happiest day of my life.”
She continues by saying that there are “people out there raising millions of dollars to try to take that right away from me.” She adds: “I believe in fairness. I believe in compassion. I believe in equality for all people. Proposition 8 does not.”
Patrick Guerriero, ‘No on 8’ campaign director, stated in a press release: “Ellen’s generous contribution to the campaign comes just at the right moment - and is done in a way that ensures her conversation with voters continues to Election Day. And it delivers our message that Proposition 8 is unfair and just plain wrong.”