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Apple, Google, Microsoft & others urge Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage across the USA

Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook have joined with 370 other companies to urge the US Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage across the country.

The companies have filed what’s known as an amicus brief, a way for parties not directly involved in a case to make an argument for or against a particular decision by the court. The brief argues that there is a sound business case for consistency across the country, explained counsel Susan Baker.

The competition for top talent crosses state and even national borders. State laws that prohibit same-sex marriage make it harder for businesses to recruit and retain talented employees. The patchwork of inconsistent state marriage laws makes it challenging and more costly for employers to administer benefits systems when some employees are unable to marry, and other employees’ marriages are not recognized by the state. This burdens businesses by costing them both time and money.

The brief makes the point that some same-sex couples may choose to move state in order to benefit from laws that allow them to marry, leaving their jobs to do so, or be reluctant to accept a position in a state that does not recognize their marriage.

The Supreme Court will decide whether or not individual states should have the right to forbid gay marriage, or whether the Constitution protects the right to equal treatment throughout the country.

Apple has long been a strong advocate of equal rights, Tim Cook making the decision to come out as gay last October, a decision applauded by Fortune 500 executives.

Via Engadget. Photo credit: Reuters.

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Comments

  1. iphone6splus - 10 years ago

    Just allow any two persons to have the same privileges as married people. The two don’t even have to be married. Let us put our friends, siblings or parents under our health insurance.

  2. iphone6splus - 10 years ago

    Quick poll: if you support homosexual marriage, do you also support incestuous marriages? Like Yes or No below.

    • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

      Yes, I support homosexual and incestuous marriages.

    • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

      No, I support homosexual marriage, but I don’t support incestuous marriage.

    • Wow, some people…

    • samuelsnay - 10 years ago

      Quick poll: Do you know what a false equivalency is? If yes, do you realize how absolutely foolish you look when you use one?

      • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

        Glad we can agree that homosexual marriage is a false equivalency to heterosexual marriage.

      • samuelsnay - 10 years ago

        And just like anyone else without a leg to stand on, you toss out some idiocy from out of nowhere and pretend you somehow scored a point. Bravo.

      • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

        You have no rational argument against incest at all. You have no leg to stand on. You can’t separate incest from homosexuals without being inconsistent. Accept incest or be a bigot.

    • Don’t forget about beastiality!

    • standardpull - 10 years ago

      Quick poll: if corporations are people, should they be allowed to marry a person regardless of their gender identity?

  3. Matt Zic - 10 years ago

    It’s an odd world we live in that businesses are held in such high regard that they may sway laws like this. Why is Google or Apple more important than an actual person? As far as I’m concerned, this is the equivalent to 370 CEOs supporting a cause that should be supported by 100% of people.

    • samuelsnay - 10 years ago

      Why is it that literally every argument presented against gay marriage boils down to some moronic logical fallacy like this? Whether it be a false equivalency, slippery slope, or some other brain-dead assertion, these are the only arguments put together to explain why a person wouldn’t want two loving adults to get married.

      In answer to your incredibly ignorant question: Do you see Apple, Google, or Microsoft banding together to allow plural marriages of any gender combination? Of course not. That’s just ridiculous. But because you happen to read a story about three gay men getting married, you jump on the slippery slope argument that obviously this must be where approving of gay marriage leads.

      This is what happens when you treat gay people as “others” who live outside of the normal boundaries of society. You view the very idea of two loving, consenting adults–who happened to be of the same gender–wanting to get married as odd or strange. So you start to equate that with things that are actually ridiculous, and say things like “What’s next? Legalizing a person marrying his or her dog? Herp derp.”

      The only positive that comes out of something like this is that the rest of us get to see the type of person you really are, and the type of intellect you have. Which warns us not to trust people like you with our food, children, pets, or anything else we deem important.

      • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

        It’s only ridiculous to you because you’re a bigot.

      • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

        False equivalency is equivocating interracial marriage with homosexual marriage. The only argument you have for homosexual marriage is two consenting adults. The argument works for incest of two consenting adults.

      • bpbatch - 10 years ago

        Who said I was against gay marriage?? Quote me, please.

      • samuelsnay - 10 years ago

        Yes, I’m a bigot because I support gay marriage. Makes perfect sense.

        So if you want to keep beating the drum on incest, tell me: Why must supporting/allowing gay marriage lead to allowing incestuous marriages as well? What’s the link? Because as far as I can tell, we have different-sex marriages, yet we don’t have legal marriages amongst differently-sexed members of the same (immediate) family. So why would that change if gay people are allowed to get married? Nobody is born wanting to fall in love with and marry a member of their own family, yet ~10% of the population is born gay. Should those people just remain in the closet and be ostracized for he rest of their lives because you’re too small-minded to accept that people are born gay, whether you believe it or not?

      • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

        You’re a bigot for saying polygamy is ridiculous. Your 10% is nothing compared to the amount of men that want multiple women and children that say they want to marry their mom or dad. Why should 1% hide in closets because some homosexuals think heterosexual/homosexual incest is disgusting?

      • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

        You are a hypocrite and you are spouting the same arguments against incest that they use against homosexuals. You say is nobody is born wanting to fall in love and marry family like they say nobody is born wanting marry the same sex. People are born wanting to take things from others. There’s nothing wrong with teaching children not to steal. You have nothing to say against incest that wasn’t said against homosexuals, so just accept incest as you homosexuals or be a hypocrite.

    • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

      If animals in nature have three ways, why not humans?

      • Roman Hawke - 10 years ago

        Animals in nature respond to INSTINCT. Humans do not. Making any connection between what happens in the animal kingdom and humans is beyond ridiculous.

  4. Roman Hawke - 10 years ago

    Enough with the BS. Allow gay people the same rights as heterosexuals, but leave the sanctity of marriage alone. Marriage should stay defined as the union of man and woman. Give homosexuals the same rights, but they need to be recognized as legal unions and not a marriage.

  5. Marklewood at Serenity Lodge - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on Marklewood at Serenity Lodge.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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