[Vision2020] The Tide Continues To Turn

[Art Deco]

Dozens of big U.S. companies to back gay marriage February 26, 2013: 5:23
PM ET Scores of corporations will file a Supreme Court brief favoring gay
marriage later this week. Signatories will include Apple, Facebook, Intel,
and Morgan Stanley.

By Roger Parloff

[image: apple-store-nyc]FORTUNE -- On Thursday, dozens of American
corporations, including Apple<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=AAPL>,
Alcoa <http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=AA>,
Facebook<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=FB>,
eBay <http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=EBAY>,
Intel<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=INTC>,
and Morgan Stanley <http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=MS> will
submit an amicus brief in the landmark *Hollingsworth v. Perry *case
broadly arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that laws banning same-sex
marriages, like California's ballot initiative Proposition 8, are
unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.

According to a draft copy obtained by *Fortune,* the companies argue that
such laws "send an unmistakeable signal that same-sex couples are in some
way inferior to opposite-sex couples, a proposition that is anathema to
amici's commitment to equality and fair treatment to all."

At least 60 companies had committed to signing the brief as of Tuesday
evening, according to Joshua Rosenkranz, who is counsel of record on the
brief and head of the Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice at
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. That number is expected to rise by
Thursday, however, according to Rosenkranz. Others who have already
committed to sign include AIG, Becton Dickinson, Cisco, Cummins, Kimpton,
Levi Strauss, McGraw Hill, NCR, Nike, Office Depot, Oracle, Panasonic,
Qualcomm, and Xerox. (Update: Verizon and Cablevision have now joined.)

*MORE: Yahoo's new work policy: Bold move, bad
delivery<http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/26/yahoo-mayer-work-policy/>
*

Though the brief adopts by reference all of the arguments of the main brief
challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8 -- filed last week by Theodore
Olson of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and David Boies of Boies, Schiller &
Flexner -- it also argues that "recognizing the rights of same-sex couples
to marry is more than a constitutional issue. It is a business imperative."

Fleshing out that contention, the companies argue: "By singling out a group
for less favorable treatment, Proposition 8 impedes businesses from
achieving the market's ideal of efficient operations -- particularly in
recruiting, hiring, and retaining talented people who are in the best
position to operate at their highest capacity. Amici are competing
domestically and internationally with companies inside and outside the
United States in places where all couples, regardless of whether they are
of the same sex, are afforded equal access to marriage."

Specifically, it suggests that when "potential recruits or employees are
members of a same-sex couple," they "may forgo the opportunity to work in
California, and prefer other states (like Iowa, New York, and
Massachusetts) or other nations (like Spain, Sweden, Denmark, the
Netherlands, Portugal, or Belgium) where they can be married and obtain
equal treatment and respect under the law."

*MORE: Big firms join quest for same-sex couple immigration
reform<http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/10/same-sex-couples-immigration-reform/>
<http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/10/same-sex-couples-immigration-reform/>
*

Laws like Prop 8 "leave companies in the untenable position of being
compelled implicitly to endorse the second-class status to which their gay
and lesbian employees, clients, customers, and business associates are
relegated," the brief argues. "Until the law no longer relegates same-sex
couples to second-class status as inferior "domestic partnerships," our
adherence to the law compels us to abide by a distinction that stigmatizes
and dehumanizes gay men and lesbians."

In an apparent effort to avoid giving offense to customers, vendors, and
employees who may favor prohibitions against gay marriage, the brief states
in a footnote that the signatory companies "do not mean to suggest" that
such laws are the "product of ill will" on anyone's part.

Finally, leaving no stone unturned, the draft brief argues that "increased
wedding celebrations can mean additional revenue for many businesses --
such as businesses involved directly in wedding celebrations, businesses
that produce goods often given as gifts to newlyweds, and businesses that
benefit from increased tourism from guests who travel to the wedding."


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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