Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman
Sachs, has said he believes gay marriage is a business issue and has
criticized opponents as biased.
Appearing on CBS Moneywatch, Blankfein
explained why he feels so strongly about the issue.
“This issue is a business issue,”
Blankfein said. “It's a civil rights issue, but it's also a
business issue. The ability for employee benefits to be shared among
spouses, the ability to move people who are dependent on visas for
trailing spouses, all hinges on being able to deal with families of
gay people in the same way that you deal with families of straight
people.”
“Otherwise, they can't move around.
People are unhappy. And we can't attract a whole set of very
talented people.”
Blankfein was also asked for his
reaction on a quote from the Christian conservative Family Research
Council (FRC), which in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court blamed
“a corporate environment dictated by wealthy pro-homosexual
activists for the growing corporate support of same-sex marriage.”
“I'm pro-diversity. … I'm trying to
achieve neutrality. I think that's a statement that has bias
associated with it. I'm not biased. I'm trying to have a neutral
workplace environment that's as inviting as it can be for all
people,” Blankfein
answered.