Amazon founder gives $2.5 million to preserve state's gay marriage law

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, and his wife, MacKenzie have made a $2.5 million contribution to the organization fighting to preserve the state law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Washington United for Marriage announced receipt of the "gift" in a press release this morning. The donation pushes the total amount raised by the political committee to $4.8 million.

“The extraordinary contribution from Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos will make an enormous difference for our campaign to defend Washington's marriage law,” WUM's campaign manager Zach Silk said in the release. “While it provides an amazing base for the work ahead, we hope it spurs others to invest because we're a long way from November and we face opponents with deep pockets who are committed to spending millions to defeat us.”

Opponents of Referendum 74 have raised a bit more than $253,000 to date.

The measure asks voters whether they want to approve or reject the law allowing same-sex couples to marry. If the referendum passes, the law will take effect once the final vote is certified.