Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman and CEO
of Goldman Sachs, has recorded an ad for the Human Rights Campaign's
(HRC) Americans for Marriage Equality campaign.
“America's corporations learned long
ago that equality is just good business and is the right thing to
do,” Blankfein says in the 30-second video. (The video is embedded
in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Blankfein's video arrives as over 100
companies have endorsed a gay marriage bill in Washington, including
Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon. Starbucks' endorsement in
particular riled anti-gay rights groups which have called
for a boycott of the coffee giant.
The issue is also being discussed in
five other states. In Washington, New Jersey and Maryland, lawmakers
are debating whether to legalize the institution. In Minnesota and
North Carolina, voters will decide on the definition of marriage.
And supporters of marriage equality in Maine announced
last month that they will return the issue to the ballot box this
November.
Recent contributors to Americans for
Marriage Equality include The Talk co-host Aisha
Tyler, Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott
Fujita, Pariah's Kim
Wayans and Dee Rees (the film's star and writer-director),
Precious star Mo'Nique,
The Good Wife's Josh
Charles, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon
Ayanbedejo, Washington Governor Chris
Gregoire, Minnesota Senator Al
Franken and Julian
Bond, chairman emeritus of the National Association for the
advancement of Colored People (NAACP).