Gay rights group: $1M for marriage fights

Gay rights rally
Supporters gather outside the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on April 14, 2011, for OutFront Minnesota's Lobby Day for LGBT Equality.
MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The country's leading gay rights group is donating $1 million to campaigns in four states where same-sex marriage is on the ballot this fall.

The Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign is donating $250,000 apiece to allies in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. It brings the group's total spending on the issue this year to nearly $5 million.

Voters in Maine are voting on whether to legalize same-sex marriage. In Minnesota, the vote is whether to ban gay marriage in the state constitution. In Maryland and Washington, voters will decide whether to uphold laws authorizing gay marriage passed earlier this year.

Polls have shown increasing support for same-sex marriage around the country, but so far backers have not been able to translate that into a ballot box win.

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