Sporting goods giant REI joins the ranks of other Northwest-based businesses, such as Nike, Amazon and Starbucks, in throwing their support behind Referendum 74, an initiative being voted on in Washington this November to uphold the state’s legislatively passed same-sex marriage law.
CEO and President Sally Jewell announced the endorsement on Monday in a blog post to the corporation’s 11,000 employees.
“Marriage equality is important to the co-op because the benefits, legal clarity and societal understanding that [my husband] Warren and I have enjoyed these past 34 years should be available to any two people who want to express their love and make a permanent commitment to each other that is so clearly provided for in the legal definition of marriage,” Jewell wrote. “Sixteen years from now, when I expect to be celebrating my 50th wedding anniversary, I sincerely hope that there will be millions more of a new generation for whom 50 years of marriage will become a possibility through these changes in our legal system.”
We’ll know where we’ll be shopping for next year’s National Marriage Equality Day!
Photo: du.edu
