Gay Donors in Maryland

The Atlantic has a fascinating story explaining how gay mogul Tim Gill is organizing wealthy gay donors to finance campaigns against anti-gay state legislators as part of an effort to knock them off before they can do damage at the state level, or a la Rick Santorum, make it to the federal league:

With that in mind, he assembled a bipartisan team of political operatives and tested his theory in 2004, quietly targeting three antigay Colorado incumbents; two of them went down. Through the combined efforts of a host of progressive interest groups, including many supported by Gill, Democrats captured both chambers of the legislature for the first time in forty years. Gill’s decision to back Democrats in Colorado was the only choice that would produce the gay-tolerant leadership he’s pursuing. But ten years from now, he told me, he hopes he’ll be able to give evenly to Republicans and Democrats.

As it turns out, Gill has already made his wish come true at least as far as campaigns in the Old Line State. I wasn't too shocked to discover that Gill supported Democrat Dana Beyer's campaign for the House of Delegates in District 18 with a donation of $1000. He also gave $500 to Democrat Heather Mizeur's campaign for the House of Delegates in District 20. (Beyer is transgender and Mizeur is lesbian.)

I was surprised to discover, however, that he also gave $2000 to the reelection campaign of Gov. Bob Ehrlich--not usually seen as a great friend of gays and lesbians as he vetoed legislation that would have given more rights to same-sex couples on the grounds that it threatened "the sanctity of traditional marriage."