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The Benefits of Gay Marriage for Business, Society

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    Witeck-Combs CEO Bob Witeck on why gay marriage benefits businesses.

  • Duration 3:18
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Our next guest has a very different view of same sex marriage and thinks it could actually benefit our society and our economy.

Bob Whitacre who is a business consultant who has consulted businesses on gay marriage chart might affect them.

He joins us now from Washington DC thanks so much for being here -- so how would.

Gay marriage affect businesses positively or negatively.

My pleasure well let's look at the facts it's interesting in the last five years I would imagine.

For the very first time businesses are actually aligned or -- lining up in support.

Marriage equality.

And certainly same sex couple recognition they see it as a positive.

In terms of stability they see it -- -- positive in terms of clarity and and simplicity.

By identifying -- sex couples would the same.

Obligations the same rights in the same legal structure as heterosexual married couple but.

By current health plans for example that would be covered after the gay marriage act right.

-- actually that's where business has been a pioneer.

The interesting thing David is really is the fact that for the last twenty or thirty years -- you start with here in New York City the village voice.

They began offering partner benefits to same sex couples so long ago.

That that trend his has exploded.

Throughout corporate America corporations.

Have one thing what imperative -- you and I both know it.

Is that they both want to either know the trend.

What they want to lead the trend because competitively speaking they wanna be in the first ranks of hiring and keeping good talent and I -- partners benefits is one of the beach heads.

Yeah well in fact and I should mention I I was talking her friend today about delta.

Well she lost his earpiece there goes -- -- friend about Delta -- Lines.

And Delta Airlines has in fact been offering these partner privileges for quite awhile and orders stay competitive.

With the other airlines so -- is happening but.

I our business is cooperating with you in trying to come up with plans.

To adjust to life after after the gay marriage laws come into effect.

Well tell you -- -- same thing is I think they're gonna be over a new beachhead soon because it's you know.

If New York takes the leadership tomorrow or the next day.

And joins five other states and the District of Columbia.

All of a sudden we're gonna have a beginning of a hodgepodge.

A relationship laws we have civil unions and some states like Hawaii and Illinois.

We have marriage in some states in the northeast particularly we have no marriage rights and other jurisdictions.

I think the chambers of commerce are gonna have to get ahead of that curve at some point and ask for uniformity because that'll save the money.

-- simplify their accounting and their tax administration.

And it will enable them to do one thing David that they all want to do.

They want to take the top talent and move it to where they need that talent to be.

Consider their family that's you know happily married in Massachusetts and they want to do that executive to a state in which there are no marriage laws that protect his his or her family.

That person is going to be less inclined to be able to move across the country.

-- his family becomes a stranger to him interesting perspective Bob thank you so much for coming in appreciate Bob -- my place.

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