Apple is among 60 companies that have signed on to a filing that will be presented to the Supreme Court backing gay marriage in the United States. The court is currently weighing the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, in which voters barred gay marriage in 2008. Apple had publicly opposed Proposition 8 at the time.“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.
Only nine states explicitly permit same-sex marriage, and the companies signing the filing argue that workplace morale and recruiting are harmed in the other 41 states. Among the companies joining Apple on the filing are Intel, Facebook, Nike, Oracle, and Qualcomm. The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments on the Proposition 8 case and a second one addressing the federal Defense of Marriage Act in late March.
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