Only 1 of 13 Minnesota-based Fortune
500 companies that offer partner benefits to gay and lesbian
employees publicly opposes a proposed amendment that would ban gay
marriage in the state.
The companies, nearly three-quarters of
the state's Fortune 500 companies, were contacted by the Associated
Press.
In addition to offering domestic
partner benefits, many of the companies, such as Target and General
Mills, have a long history of supporting gay rights causes.
A spokesman for St. Jude Medical, a
medical device manufacturer, said the company would publicly oppose
the amendment but had no plans to donate money to defeat the
amendment.
“We do not believe the proposed
constitutional amendment is in the best interest of economic and jobs
growth in Minnesota,” said Rachel Ellingson, vice president for
corporate communications at St. Jude Medical. “We believe that it
is important for the state to be viewed as inclusive in order to
recruit and retain the best talent.”
Target and seven other companies said
they would not take a public position. The remainder did not provide
a comment.
Gay rights groups said they were
disappointed.
“It's our preference that employers
who are committed to fairness and equality for all their employees
would find opposing the amendment a reasonable position,” Fred
Sainz, vice president of communications and marketing for the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), told the AP.