Maryland Anti-Marriage Equality Group Deep in Debt

The group seeking to repeal Maryland's marriage equality law is $88,000 in debt, and it owes much of that to a signature-gathering firm owned by a state legislator.

Out of that total, the Maryland Marriage Alliance owes $74,000 to MDPetitions.com, owned by Neil Parrott, a Republican member of the House of Delegates, The Baltimore Sun reports. It also owes $5,000 in legal fees and raised just $5,000 in the past month.

Executive director Derek McCoy, however, told the Sun there are some large donations that have yet to be reported, and that the figures in the report reflect only fund-raising for the signature-gathering effort. The group has received other donations "for the general purpose of 'protecting marriage in Maryland,'" the Sun reports.

Marylanders for Marriage Equality, which is seeking to preserve the law, tweeted that it raised more money in a single day, Tuesday, than its opponents have this month. Gov. Martin O'Malley, who signed the marriage equality law in March, cohosted a benefit for the group Tuesday in Ocean City. Also, an event in Baltimore Sunday brought in about $20,000, according to the Washington Blade.

The Maryland Marriage Alliance has submitted petitions with more than twice the number of signatures needed to put the issue on the November ballot, and the state has found the majority of them valid. Polls indicate, however, that a majority of Marylanders will vote in favor of preserving marriage equality.