Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.
When Jennifer Cast, an original employee with Amazon.com from its early days, asked its founder, Jeff Bezos, for support to “have the right to marry the love of my life and to let my children and grandchildren know their family is honored like a ‘real’ family,” the response was surreal.
“’Jen,” the e-mail said, “this is right for so many reasons. We’re in for $2.5 million. Jeff & MacKenzie.”
The couple’s hefty contribution will go toward Referendum 74, which would legalize same-sex marriage in Washington by affirming the law that passed earlier this year, doubling the money available for the cause.
The billionaire and his wife follow a long line of big-name heterosexual execs in donating chunks of change to marriage equality, including Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer of Microsoft, who each gave $100,000 to the referendum campaign.
“To get this from a straight, married couple sends a powerful message that marriage is seen as a fundamental question of fairness,” Zach Silk, the campaign manager for Washington United for Marriage, said Thursday.
Photo: bloomberg.com
