---

Apple, Google Both Come Out Corporately Against Traditional Marriage Definition Ballot Measure

Apple donates $100,000 to campaign against Proposition 8

CALIFORNIA, October 24, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two of the world's largest computer tech companies, Apple and Google, have taken the unusual corporate action of opposing a California ballot measure, Proposition 8, which would insert the traditional definition of marriage in the state constitution.

Proposition 8 would undo the May 15 California Supreme Court's judicial activist decision that invented a right to homosexual "marriage". The court decision ignored the 2000 vote by Californians approving Proposition 22 which maintained the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and expressly prohibited the state from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Apple announced today that it would donate $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 campaign. The No campaign vehemently opposes Proposition 8 and opposes any recognition of the approval of California voters eight years ago of Proposition 22.

In a statement on it website today (http://www.apple.com/hotnews/) Apple wrote, "Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees' same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person's fundamental rights--including the right to marry--should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8."

Google, posted on its official blog on September 26 (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-position-on-californias-no-on-8.html)its statement on the issue. It wrote, "As an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because our company has a great diversity of people and opinions -- Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and gay -- we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love."

The history so far of law changes permitting same-sex "marriage" has shown that only a tiny minority of same-sex partners are actually interested in "marriage", a substantial number of such unions prove to be of relatively short duration and many of the arrangements tend to be of an unconventional open type, allowing sexual freedom outside the relationship. The sought legislative changes, whether imposed by activist courts or passed by legislators without popular voter support, are said by pro-family leaders to have the real purpose of forcing acceptance of homosexuality in laws, institutions and the education system.

See related links:

See Propostion 8 website
http://www.protectmarriage.com/

California Supreme Court Imposes Homosexual 'Marriage' on State
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051502.html

Permissive laws, permissive behaviour - The research shows that legalising same-sex marriage will increase prevalence of homosexuality, says a psychologist
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/permissive_laws_permissive_behaviour/&n...;

 Back to Top

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.