California's Marriage Defenders Coming Up Short

Ahead of the Supreme Court case over California's Proposition 8, a ruling that could change the nation's laws about same-sex marriage, traditional marriage proponents are facing financial struggles, WORLD Magazine reports. After raising money year after year to continue supporting Prop 8, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, traditional marriage coalition ProtectMarriage.com now finds itself $700,000 short of the money it needs to cover its litigation costs. "Unless the pace of donations starts to pick up right away, we could soon be forced over a financial cliff," ProtectMarriage.com said in a email to donors earlier this month. But while gay rights activists claim the decrease in funding represents a lack of support for traditional marriage, ProtectMarriage.com maintains that convictions have remained strong. "I don't detect a decrease in enthusiasm," ProtectMarriage.com attorney Andrew Pugno said. "What I detect is a certain degree of fatigue after having to essentially fight this issue non-stop since 2004, when the mayor in San Francisco started issuing marriage licenses." Beyond ProtectMarriage.com's battle in California, traditional marriage proponents in other states have been outspent and beaten by gay activists in the past four ballot measures -- such as in Washington state, where traditional marriage supporters raised $2.8 million compared to the $12.6 million raised by gay marriage advocates.