Cathy Bessant, Bank of America's technology chief, is speaking out against a proposed gay marriage ban in North Carolina.

If approved during the state's May 8 primary, Amendment One would bar North Carolina from recognizing the relationships of gay and lesbian couples with marriage, civil unions and possibly domestic partnerships.

“We're in a war with other states across the country who would love to have the jobs that we have today,” Bessant, global technology and operations executive at BofA, said in a video posted on YouTube earlier this month by the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families. “Amendment One has the potential to have a disastrous effect on our ability to attract talent and keep talent in the state of North Carolina.”

“What Amendment One does is make it look like we're a state that ignores both the needs and the preferences of the next generation of America's and the world's workforce. We've got to attract that generation. We've got to vote no on Amendment One,” she added. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)

Bank of America, which operates in more than 40 countries, employees more than 280,000 people, making it the largest lender by number of employees.

North Carolina House Majority Leader Paul Stam rejected the claim that the gay marriage ban is bad for business.

“We added that language specifically to allay unfounded assertions that this was going to hurt business,” Stam told BloombergBusinessweek. “They can give any kind of benefit they want. Where's the beef?”