Apple is well-known for holding progressive political reviews, including marriage equality. Bloomberg reports that they have stepped their efforts to defend same-sex marriage, joining 60 other companies to support a Supreme Court filing in defense of same-sex marriage. The statement argues that welcoming homosexual employees and providing equal benefits to same-sex partners as heterosexual partners is critical for workplace morale, as well as recruiting efforts and employee retention.
The statement also addresses same-sex marriage as a matter of civil rights, in addition to noting the benefits that legalized same-sex marriage would likely have to the corporate world.
“No matter how welcoming the corporate culture, it cannot overcome the societal stigma institutionalized by Proposition 8 and similar laws,” the companies will argue, according to a copy of the brief provided by Orrick Herrington Sutcliffe LLP, the law firm representing the group.
The filing is part of an effort to convince the court that gay marriage has wide public support. Dozens of Republicans, including former presidential candidate and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, are also planning to file a brief backing such unions.
This isn’t the first time Apple has stood in defense of Gay Marriage – the company also publicly opposed California’s Proposition 8 in 2008 with an official statement on the Hot News section of their site. Other companies supporting the filing include Intel, Facebook, eBay, Oracle, Xerox, and other influential companies from both the tech sector and other industries. Currently, only 9 states officially recognize and support same-sex marriage.
