Jonathan Baker, director of NOM's Corporate Fairness Project, is interviewed in this Stateline article about Washington State companies injecting themselves in the marriage debate:
"... according to the [SSM] bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Senator Ed Murray, there was nothing more crucial to the legalization of gay marriage than support from high-profile businesses such as Nike and Microsoft. "It's how we got moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats to vote for this,” he says.
... gay rights activists have built aggressively from their original base of industry support. Some gay rights groups have hired lobbyists whose sole focus is reaching out to business leaders.
Those efforts culminated in more than 100 businesses publicly supporting gay marriage in Washington State before the bill’s passage in February, from heavy-hitting corporations such as Starbucks, Google and Alcoa to mom and pop shops scattered around the state. Small business support was key to turning individual legislators, who “know their local businesses,” Murray says.
... the National Organization for Marriage [has] taken notice of this trend. In response they have launched their own effort, called the Corporate Fairness Project, to pressure businesses to stay neutral in the debate. “I don’t believe that you can work for a company that has taken a position on this and feel that both sides are well represented,” says Jonathan Baker, director of the Corporate Fairness Project. “Both sides should be able to go to work and feel comfortable. By a company taking a corporate position on the matter, they are automatically going to make one side or the other feel a little less comfortable about it.”
Baker’s group is also working to ensure that companies don’t discriminate against employees because they oppose gay marriage, which Baker insists is happening with some regularity. Bank of America and Cisco came under fire from the National Organization for Marriage for terminating their relationships with leadership consultant Frank Turek because of his vocal opposition to gay marriage. They both subsequently reinstated him as an eligible vendor in good standing. "As we see more and more companies jumping into the marriage debate,” Baker says, “we think it's certainly a risk that could grow."
3 Comments
It looks like some people in this article are pushing the "a marriage amendment will be bad for the state economy" myth. I don't know how many times it has to be debunked for the opposition to give it up.
Witnessing how alliances are forged between big business and the LGBT lobby is great for two reasons: 1) it strikes at the heart of the other myth, i.e. that gays and lesbians are a helpless minority in need of special protection; (2) it lends credence to the claims of some conservative pundits who say that Wall Street is actually very liberal, contrary to popular ideas.
I'm glad to see that NOM's Corporate Fairness project is keeping watch on all marriage-related business developments.
Ash,
Marriage corruption supporters refuse to accept the laws of nature...
It's unfortunate that people with excess time and money are the ones who are most likely to up-end the institutions responsible for the former greatness of the United States.
The people who are the foundation of the greatness of our country, the ones with jobs or positions in the military and raising kids, frankly don't have the luxury of time and money to fight back against the misfits, malcontents, and spoiled brats who despise the elements of our country that has made it so prosperous. When you're worried about paying your mortgage and helping your kids with their math homework, where are you going to find the time and money to combat the anti-capitalists and the sexually confused/obsessed?
Look at what changes are brewing and who is driving them: 1) Homosexuals: a mere 2% of the population, most are childless and have lots of time to focus solely on their careers, amassing lots of cash to promote their dead-end lifestyle; 2) The "Occupy-this" clowns: Unemployable with lots of time on their hands, this big group of losers is trying to bring down capitalism, seeking a socialist nirvana where they can continue to not work and feed off of others. 3) College students: Living off government loans and/or cash from their parents, these youngsters are clueless about the world, yet they have the enormous power of time and numbers to push their misguided causes.
It's a big problem when the common man has so little ability to fight the assaults on his country. Thank God for the power of the vote.