Add Facebook s Mark Zuckerberg, Google s Larry Page, Yahoo s Marissa Mayer and other tech bigwigs to the list of people who have signed on to a big push to add anti-discrimination protections for gay people in states across the country.
Human Rights Campaign, which launched the effort last week, today announced the additions to the list that originally included Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff. Benioff was the first high-profile tech executive to speak out against Indiana s religious freedom bill, which critics say would have made it legal for businesses to discriminate against gay people in that state.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also spoke out against the Indiana law, sparking criticism from former Silicon Valley tech CEO Carly Fiorina, who pointed out that Apple does business in nations with a poor record on equal treatment for gays and women.
The Human Rights Campaign s joint statement from the tech industry — which as Michelle Quinn writes is becoming a driver of social change — includes the following:
To ensure no one faces discrimination and ensure everyone preserves their right to live out their faith, we call on all legislatures to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes to their civil rights laws and to explicitly forbid discrimination or denial of services to anyone.
Other new signatories include YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Cisco CEO John Chambers, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter VP Katie Stanton. The list now includes more than 100 tech leaders.
Photo of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer from NBC via Associated Press
