Bloomberg offers $250,000 match for same-sex marriage

OLYMPIA, Wash. — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is offering to match up to $250,000 of donations made by the end of the week to the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state.

The grant challenge was announced Monday by Washington United for Marriage, which is fighting to uphold the state's gay marriage law that was passed earlier this year. That law is on hold pending November's vote on Referendum 74, which asks voters to either approve or reject the law allowing same-sex marriage in the state.

In the release issued Monday, Bloomberg said that he "does not believe that government has any business telling one class of couples that they cannot marry."

Washington United for Marriage has raised $10.5 million in cash and in-kind donations for its overall campaign, far more than the $1.8 million raised by Preserve Marriage Washington, which opposes the law.