San
Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. said Thursday that it
will cochair with Pacific Gas & Electric a group
designed to encourage businesses to oppose
California's proposed gay marriage ban,
Proposition 8.
According to the
Associated Press, the move is in keeping with the
philosophy of Levi Strauss, the first Fortune 500 company to
ever offer health benefits to the domestic partners of
gay employees.
In July public
utilities company PG&E donated $250,000 to the No on 8
campaign. Levi Strauss has pledged $25,000 to Equality for
All, the coalition leading that campaign, company
spokesman E.J. Bernacki told the AP.
The companies'
support for marriage equality was met on Thursday with a
vow of support for the No on 8 campaign from the Valley
Industry and Commerce Association, a business advocacy
group in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.
The organization's board voted "by a significant
margin" to oppose the ballot initiative, said its
president, Stuart Waldman. "The most eloquent argument we
got from an employer is they spend so much on human
resources dealing with different benefits under
domestic-partnership rules versus married employees,"
he said. (The Advocate)
