Orange County, where Republicans dominate politics and tens of thousands pour into evangelical megachurches each weekend, has become a funding powerhouse in the effort to ban gay marriage in California.
Orange County donors have contributed $1.6 million for Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry.
Donations from here to support Prop. 8 constitute 24 percent of the $6.8 million raised statewide, according to campaign finance records filed with the California Secretary of State through Aug. 28. Orange County's portion accounts for 15 percent of the $10.9 million that had been raised nationwide in support of Prop. 8.
Orange County is home not only to numerous individual Prop. 8 supporters, but also to the state's most generous donor and a major Prop. 8 fundraising committee. The National Organization for Marriage-California, a political committee that has collected $2.8 million of the $10.9 million total to fuel the fight, is headquartered in Santa Ana. The biggest donation in California comes from a local billionaire's Irvine-based foundation.
Local donations against Prop. 8 total $50,000, making up 1 percent of the $4.7 million state total and an almost negligible portion of the $9.6 million raised nationally.
WHO'S GIVING?
The strongest opposition to gay marriage comes from people 55 or older, said Catherine Bolzendahl, a UC Irvine sociologist who studies public opinion on same-sex relationships. People 35 to 55 have a mix of opinions, while people 18 to 35 tend to support gay marriage, Bolzendahl said. Women are more supportive than men of gay marriage.
People in favor of Prop. 8 tend to be older, more politically conservative and religiously devout, according to political analysts.
"Republicans and conservatives tend to support it more," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at USC, about the initiative. "Hispanics are a potential group of supporters. Democrats tend not to. Moderates and liberals tend not to. Independents are more receptive to the idea of single-sex marriage."
Mark Hobbins of Trabuco Canyon supports the measure. He donated $25,000 toward the gay-marriage ban.
"If the traditional definition of marriage is not upheld, it has what I believe to be extremely negative consequences in our society, and for families and children," said Hobbins, a Mormon and founder of www.familyiq.com, a Web site that offers e-learning courses designed to strengthen families.
Laguna Beach resident Sandra Hartness, owner of Asset Services Inc., sees things differently. She donated $2,500 to defeat Prop. 8.
"I think this issue rises beyond a gay-straight issue," said Hartness, who is gay and serves on the board of the Human Rights Campaign, which has raised about $325,000 against Prop. 8. "I decided to donate primarily because I don't believe in discrimination of any sort. Equal rights are the basis of our country, and so why they wouldn't be extended to all citizens is an anathema to me."
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