Prominent GOP donor to launch pro-gay marriage Super PAC

A prominent Republican donor who has already donated more than $1 million to the Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney's campaign is looking to create his own outside organization that would encourage GOP candidates to support gay marriage.

Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire, told the New York Times Saturday he would spend at least $1 million more to a new group that will urge Republicans to support same-sex relationships. Dubbed American Unity PAC, the group aims to provide financial cover for conservatives worried that embracing gay marriage could alienate them from prominent donors.

Singer told the paper he believed there were many Republicans "who could be on the verge of support" or are "harboring and hiding their views."

"This kind of effort could be catalytic in generating some more movement,” he said.

Singer has been a prominent advocate of gay-rights initiatives, donating more than $10 million in the past. He was among one of the biggest financial supporters of New York state's gay marriage law.

Polls in the aftermath of President Obama's decision to support gay marriage show that more than half of Americans generally agree with the president. Nearly three quarters of respondents between 18 and 34 years old said they supported the practice in a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday.

Mitt Romney, however, has repeatedly said he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

"My view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman. And that's my own preference," Romney said last month while campaigning in Nebraska. "I have the same view that I've had since running for office."

---