Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw contributed $100,000 to No On Prop 8, matching Brad Pitt. T R Knight donated $50,000 to preserve marriage equality in California.

Knight’s donation comes after Ohio entrepreneur Jonathan Lewis issued a challenge of sorts to Los Angeles’s entertainment industry — raise $500,000 for No on Prop. 8, and he and his family will match the contributions dollar for dollar.

Other celebrities who have made donations since Lewis’s offer to match funds include Pete Wentz and Fall Out Boy to the tune of $50,000; Angels in America scribe Tony Kushner, $15,000; and E! talk-show host Chelsea Handler, $5,000.

Absent from the list are A-list gay and lesbian entertainers — some of whom have already made their own marriages equal:

Notably, Ellen DeGeneres, whose marriage to Portia DiRossi was widely celebrated, was absent as a contributor, as of October 7.

Other absent gay celebrities include Rosie O’Donnell, who was wed in San Francisco in 2004. Her marriage was one of thousands later nullified by the California Supreme Court.

Elton John and Melissa Etheridge, two of the best-known and wealthiest LGBT people in popular music, have also not donated, nor have directors Gus Van Sant, Joel Schumacher and Bryan Singer, or producers Greg Berlanti of Brothers and Sisters or Marc Cherry of Desperate Housewives.

“We need another $10 million at least,” said Kors, in order to confront the lies the anti-marriage campaign is telling.

(More on the lies here)

Erik Resnick, via email, makes the case for marriage equality in California very clearly. Why is defeating Prop 8 so important to everyone in America?

1. California is the most populous state with the largest economy.

2. California marries couples regardless of residency. In other words, unlike in Masachusetts, couples from other states can marry in California and eventually force their home states to recognize their marriage. (Being married is like being pregant. You either are, or you aren’t.) States like New York, the second most populous state, already recognize marriages performed in other states, giving them de facto marriage equality even though there is no mechanism for New Yorkers to marry in their own state.

3. Politically, if marriage equality can’t survive a referndum in California, other states don’t likely stand a chance for another generation.

I don’t know why privileged A-list gays and lesbians have, so far, decided to sit out the fight against Prop 8.

Will you sit it out too?

Please give generously to No On Prop 8 here.