Companies from Delta Air Lines Inc. to AT&T Inc.are lobbying state legislators across the country saying laws perceived as anti-gay are bad for business, according to Bloomberg News.
Delta, Marriott International Inc., Apple Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. are just a few among several United States corporations that have urged Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to veto a bill allowing businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians on religious grounds, Bloomberg News reported.
The companies all said the law, if enacted, would run counter to their internal policies aimed at ensuring an equal workplace, according to Bloomberg News. They also said the law could prompt companies to relocate outside Arizona, which is already struggling economically.
After years of not taking a stand on social issues, hundreds of large corporations joined the fray by signing a brief last year in favor of overturning the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act. In Indiana, Eli Lilly & Co. and Cummins Inc. donated $100,000 apiece to a campaign opposed to a proposed amendment banning gay unions, according to Bloomberg News.
With Americans' attitudes toward gays and same-sex marriage changing rapidly, companies are determined not to alienate paying customers or end up on the wrong side of history, Bloomberg News reported.
"It is exceedingly difficult for us to sell Arizona as a destination against a backdrop of negative attention suggesting certain travelers or conference attendees would not be welcome here -- as a matter of law," Steve Hart, Marriott's Arizona area vice president, said in a letter to Brewer, according to Bloomberg News.
Companies' growing activism has put on notice a handful of other states including Kansas, Ohio and Missouri looking to enact legislation similar to the Arizona measure, Bloomberg News reported.
Increasingly, companies prefer to do business in states where the law doesn't conflict with non-discrimination policies seen as crucial to attracting talented workers, according to Bloomberg News.
Leaders of the Republican Party also weighed in on the proposed legislation, which could make the national party seem out of step with younger voters who support gay marriage, Bloomberg News reported.
With midterm elections looming, Republicans have sought to focus on President Barack Obama's signature U.S. healthcare law.
