A coalition led by gay-rights group Equality California announced today plans to invest more than $15 million in an educational campaign to build support for same-sex marriage.

The three-year effort, Let California Ring, will partner paid advertising with a grassroots community outreach campaign with the goal of "(enabling) hundreds of thousands of Californians to learn first-hand why marriage matters so much to same-sex couples."

"The idea is to have television, radio and other means of delivering a message, combined with on-the-ground field work so there's a a groundbeat of information and discussion of the issue," said. Equality California Marriage Director Marc Solomon. "The more people talk about the issue and get to know gay couples either on TV or in person, the more they come our way."

The campaign will focus on generating support among African-American, Asian Pacific Islander and Latino voters as well as various faith-based communities, according to a press release issued today.

"We're in a state that's majority people of color and that's just a really important place to start," he said, adding that field organizers are "having discussions with older voters, with Republican voters, with all sorts of voters, all sorts of citizens, all sorts of Californians and the idea is to engage them."

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