The Australian arm of the Seattle-based
coffee giant Starbucks on Tuesday endorsed gay marriage.
“Core to who we are and what we value
as a company is our belief in equal treatment of our partners
[employees] and our customers,” the company said in a statement.
“It is with this in mind that
Starbucks Australia would like to publicly announce our proud support
of marriage equality for all.”
“Many of our stores and partners are
actively participating in events and activities aimed at changing
local legislation – together we can make a difference.”
Australian
Marriage Equality national convenor Alex Greenwich praised the
company's stance.
“Starbuck's stand is based on
principle and reflects the company's concern that its staff and
customers are treated equally under the law,” he said.
The endorsement comes after gay
marriage opponent the National Organization for Marriage (NOM)
launched a boycott against Starbucks over its support for a gay
marriage law in Washington state. As of Wednesday, 44,329 people had
pledged at the group's boycott
site to “dump Starbucks.”
(Related: NOM's
Starbucks boycott over gay marriage not catching global fire.)