November 20th, 2013
And this time I think they’ll be Nike. (Portland Business Journal)
Nike Inc. has formed a PAC to support marriage equality and seeded it with $280,000 from the company and its executives.
“We are committed to diversity and inclusion and strive to treat our employees equally,” the company said in a statement. “We believe that diversity drives innovation and allows us to attract and retain world class talent. For Oregon businesses to attract and retain the best talent, we need fair and equitable laws that treat all Oregonians equally and prevent discrimination.”
This additional boost of funds shows the seriousness with which Oregon business, activist, and faith alliance have towards overturning Oregon’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Currently Oregon United for Marriage has collected 115,080 signatures of the 116,284 needed to get on the 2014 ballot (though they will need to collect a healthy margin to allow for some invalidations).
Last week the Oregon Episcopal Diocese voted overwhelmingly in favor of marriage equality, joining many ministers and churches from UCC, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Jewish and other faith groups.
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Paul Douglas
November 20th, 2013
When Oregon’s DOJ decided that marriage equality would be extended to recognize marriages performed out of state, there wasn’t even a ripple of right wing fundagelical protest that has surprised many of us. I mean not a peep of protest. One has to wonder what is going on and why the christianists are laying low.
Ben in Oakland
November 20th, 2013
Paul, My guess is they know they are goingto lose. We haven’t heard a peep from the Christianists in Hawaii about a move to overturn the legislature, and probably for the same reasons.
Timothy Kincaid
November 20th, 2013
Paul,
The largest denominations in Oregon are Catholic, Mormon, and ELCA (Lutheran).
Of those, the Lutherans perform same-sex marriages, the lay Catholics (especially in a liberal state like Oregon) are majority supporters, and the Mormon are keeping their head down as much as possible on the issue these days.
Mark F.
November 20th, 2013
Good for them. However, I am not buying a product just because the company is pro-gay.
Mark F.
November 20th, 2013
OR should be an easy victory. If not, our side is in trouble.
Norm
November 21st, 2013
Better late than never. Back in 2004, Nike remained neutral over the Oregon anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment that it now wants to repeal.
Also, don’t forget that Columbia Sportswear and Adidas, and Oregon’s largest private employer Intel announced their support of Oregon gay marriage last month.
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