Microsoft has joined with five other companies to officially support the legalisation of same-sex marriage because it believes that discrimination of any kind is counter-productive in the war for talent.
Washington State in the US, where the high tech giant is based, is scheduled to hear two bills today (Pacific Daylight Time) which, if passed, would allow civil marriage between same-sex couples.
As a result, Microsoft has got together with Nike, digital entertainment provider RealNetworks, Group Health Cooperative, travel and expense management software supplier Concur and investment and project management firm Vulcan to send a letter of support to Governor Chris Gregoire.
The brief message said: “We write you today to show the support of our respective companies for SB 6239 and HB 2516 recognizing marriage equality for same sex couples.”
But Microsoft’s general counsel, Brad Smith, elaborated on the reasons for the vendor’s support on its official blog, in a posting entitled ‘Marriage Equality in Washington State Would Be Good for Business’.
He said: “Marriage equality in Washington would put employers here on an equal footing with employers in six other states that already recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples – Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. This in turn will help us continue to compete for talent.”
Microsoft is a long-time supporter of gay rights and marriage equality. It was one of the First Fortune 500 firms to provide benefits for the same-sex partners of its workers and was also one of the first to write a policy that protected its employees against discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
