Hundreds of Companies Support Gay-marriage

The Supreme Court will be taking up the gay-marriage issue for the first time at the end of March. Apple Inc., Morgan Stanley, and many other companies are same-sex marriage advocates. These companies are standing against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This law states that legally married gay couples can’t claim the federal tax breaks and other benefits available to opposite-sex spouses. Hundreds of American companies have spoken out against the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 over the years, and many of those companies signed onto briefs opposing both anti-gay laws. In 2008, Proposition 8 put a ban on gay marriage in California. This is now being challenged by corporate groups such as Facebook Inc. and Intel Corp. They have argued that “gay-marriage bans in 41 states harm workplace morale and undermine recruiting” (Greg Stohr). Companies such as Starbucks, Amazon and Apple have supported a brief that says "Proposition 8 and similar laws inflict real and wholly unnecessary injury on business ... No matter how welcoming the corporate culture, it cannot overcome the societal stigma institutionalized by Proposition 8 and similar laws."

CSRHub tracks 245 companies that have gay and lesbian partner benefits. Companies on this list have implemented policies that respond to the special needs of gay, lesbian, and transgender employees. These policies may include expanded health and family leave policies, explicit rules regarding workplace discrimination, and management training programs. Of the 202 companies that backCSRHub gay marriage, 78 are identified by CSRHub as having these gay and lesbian policies and benefits. Some of these companies are listed below.

 Companies with Gay and Lesbian policies

[csrhubwidget company="Starbucks-Corporation" size="650x100" hash="c9c0f7"]

Photo courtesy of freedomtomarry.org.

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