Google, Starbucks, Facebook Arguing Against OK Marriage Ban
Google, Facebook, Starbucks are among companies arguing against Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban
By Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — Some of the nation’s biggest corporations — including Google, Facebook, Starbucks and Pfizer — say laws in Oklahoma and other states banning same-sex marriage pose administrative burdens and force them to violate their principles.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the federal appeals court that is hearing a same-sex marriage case from Oklahoma and a similar one from Utah, 46 companies and business groups said they are ultimately hurt by laws they consider discriminatory.
“The mandate in Utah, Oklahoma and other states requires that we single out colleagues with same-sex partners and treat them as a separate and unequal class as compared to employees with heterosexual partners when dealing with state marital benefits,” the brief says.
“This mandate upsets our business philosophy and prevents our companies from reaching our full economic potential because it dissuades those employees from living and working in the jurisdictions where we do, or want to do, business.”