After several years of support for homosexual advocacy efforts, the retail chain Target has joined the legal fight to dismantle the definition of marriage as one and one woman.
The company announced this week that they have filed an amicus brief with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals backing “marriage equality.”
In a blog post Tuesday, Jodee Kozlak, Target’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer, said they filed the brief to oppose bans on same-sex “marriage” in Wisconsin and Indiana. She wrote:
It is our belief that everyone should be treated equally under the law, and that includes rights we believe individuals should have related to marriage.
… At Target, we have long offered comprehensive, competitive benefits to our LGBT team members and their families, often above what is legally required. We continue to do so today because we believe doing so is right for our team and for our business. But current laws — in places like Wisconsin and Indiana that are addressed in this brief – make it difficult to attract and retain talent. These disparate laws also create confusing and complicated benefits challenges across multiple states.
We believe that everyone – all of our team members and our guests – deserve to be treated equally. And at Target we are proud to support the LGBT community.
The Seventh Circuit will hear arguments in the case on August 26. Both states saw judges overturn their existing bans and appealed the rulings.
Target's position is not unusual in corporate America, which has largely joined the campaign for homosexual “rights.” JP Morgan Chase recently took fire for asking employees if they support same-sex relationships, and a majority of Fortune 500 companies have policies against treating same-sex employees and their relationships different from heterosexual employees and relationships.