Apple Donates $100,000 to fight Proposition 8 in CA

Apple said it views Proposition 8 as a civil rights issue, not a political one and as such, is donating $100,000 to defeat the measure, it announced today. Prop. 8 is aimed at defining marriage as only between a man and a woman and preventing same-sex marriages.

"Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees' same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person's fundamental rights - including the right to marry - should not be affected by their sexual orientation," the company said on its website today.

Apple joins Google, which came out publicly against Prop. 8 last month. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have donated $140,000 together to fight the measure, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Google voiced many of the same points saying the company sees the issue as one of equality and is opposed to the elimination of fundamental rights.

"While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 - we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love."

Both companies have not had a long history of taking stands on political measures. It's unclear what effect it might have with pro-Proposition 8 supporters who might avoid doing business with companies that oppose the measure.