Preserve Marriage Washington, which is fighting to reject Referndum-74 (gay marriage):

Is there a business case for supporting same-sex marriage?  The numbers say no.  Some business leaders took out a full-page ad in Sunday’s Seattle Times endorsing Referendum 74’s same-sex marriage law, but Preserve Marriage Washington points out that protecting marriage is good for a state’s business climate.  Several surveys of state economic indicators show that the majority of top performing states are ones that have protected marriage as one man and one woman.

“The facts show that states where the people have voted to preserve traditional marriage are the top performing states economically,” said Joseph Backholm, Chairman of Preserve Marriage Washington.  “Rejecting Referendum 74 will not hurt Washington’s economy.  If anything, it will help the economy.  Research shows that states where voters rejected redefining marriage are the top performing states economically.”

For example, nine of the ten “best states for business” according to a survey of 650 business leaders by Chief Executive Magazine have voted to preserve traditional marriage.

According to Moody’s Analytics, nine of the top ten states for job growth have voted to protect traditional marriage.

Eight of the top ten performing states for “creating jobs, economic development and prosperity” do not have same-sex marriage, according to a study published by the National Chamber Foundation.

“Voting to reject Referendum 74 will not keep Washington from attracting new businesses.  The neighboring states competing for jobs – Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, and Montana – all have voted to protect marriage,” said Backholm.  “The states that are doing best are those that have preserved marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  Companies in these states are not having difficulty recruiting employees or thriving in a ‘global marketplace.’”