GAME ON: Marriage Equality Opponents Announce $2 Million Pledge to Block Civil Rights // TV Ad War Begins Monday

This morning Maryland Juice received an email blast from Marylanders for Marriage Equality announcing that a donor has pledged $2 million to the anti-civil rights opponents at the National Organization for Marriage (see below). Meanwhile, The Baltimore Sun's Annie Linskey reports that the television ad war over marriage equality (Question 6) is about to begin (excerpt below):

BALTIMORE SUN: Opponents of same-sex marriage will start their television ad campaign Monday morning, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission. Two days later, the supporters will go up on television, papers show....

It's a safe bet that the Maryland Marriage Alliance, which opposes same-sex marriage, will put up an ad similar in tone to one that is now airing in Minnesota, another state with marriage on the ballot. The spot features a number of good looking and happy heterosexual couples while an female narrator notes the significance of marriage - particularly in child rearing.

Juice -

Here it comes. The National Organization for Marriage - which has provided most of our opponents' reported resources so far - announced they have a donor ready to give $2,000,000 to stop marriage equality.

If you think this money wont be directly used here in Maryland to "drive a wedge between blacks and gays" as their strategy document so infamously outlined, you're wrong.

It's a harsh reality, but we have Marylanders on our side.  People just like you, who care about fairness and equality in the Free State.  Will you donate $25, $100 or more today to ensure that when The National Organization for Marriage swoops in last minute, we have the funds to go head to head with them?

They said:

"A gracious pro-marriage supporter has just created an extremely generous matching grant fund to help the National Organization for Marriage demonstrate your commitment to marriage as the unique union of one man and one woman. This new $2 million matching grant challenge will help us compete even more effectively with Obama's billionaire gay marriage activists and wealthy Hollywood celebrities who are determined to impose homosexual marriage as the law of the land."

MORE ON THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY BATTLE SOON!