same-sex

Meg Whitman changes stance, now supports same-sex marriage

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman said today that her views against same-sex marriage had changed "after careful review and reflection" and that "the time has come" for marriage equality.

Whitman, who formerly supported California's Proposition 8 during her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2010, was one of dozens of prominent Republicans who have signed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the controversial proposition. The voter-approved amendment to the state's constitution, which bans gay marriage, is expected to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court next month.

She explained in a … Read more

Square Enix considers same-sex marriage for Final Fantasy XIV

One new feature in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn lets avatars get married. When it launches sometimes next year, only opposite-sex avatars will be able to get hitched, but that may change.

Square Enix discussed the matter of same-sex marriage, among other topics, in a nearly two-hour video posted to YouTube. A representative from the company said Square Enix has been carefully considering allowing same-sex marriage, though no final decisions have been made.

Read more of "Square Enix considering same-sex marriage for Final Fantasy XIV" at GameSpot.

Amazon's Bezos donates $2.5M in support of same-sex marriage

Amazon is the latest tech company to come out in support of same-sex marriage. And judging from the size of founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' whopping $2.5 million donation to defend same-sex marriage in Washington State, there's no mistaking how the e-commerce magnate feels about the cause. This is the largest-ever publicly reported donation to a marriage campaign, according to the Associated Press.

Bezos announced Friday that he was making the donation with his wife MacKenzie to Washington United for Marriage, a group working to uphold the state's same-sex marriage law. Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener told the … Read more

Electronic Arts comes out against Defense of Marriage Act

Electronic Arts has joined a coalition of American businesses opposing the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The game publisher said in a statement Wednesday that it was joining dozens of business in signing an amicus brief that urges the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to find the 1996 law unconstitutional. In part, the statement reads:

DOMA presents a number of problems for businesses like EA, as it creates regulatory, tax, and discrimination complications for employers, and that's why we're standing against it. … Read more

Facebook walks the aisle with new gay, lesbian wedding icons

Facebook has just made it easier to announce same-sex marriages on the social network by providing icons analogous to the ones heterosexual couples have long used.

The social network has long offered newlyweds a special bride-and-groom "cake topper" icon to include in their timeline to accentuate their announcement, but not all weddings are accurately represented by a bride and groom icon. With that in mind, Facebook this weekend rolled out new groom-groom and bride-bride icons to represent same-sex unions.

One of the first appearances of the new icons was with the wedding announcement of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes … Read more

EA stirs controversy by adding gay characters to Star Wars game

Game maker Electronic Arts is adding more diversity to its new multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic -- characters in same-sex relationships and plot lines.

Because of this, the company is coming under fire from some unlikely contingents for the gaming world -- anti-gay conservative groups such as the Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council.

"There were no LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] characters in any of the Star Wars movies," the Florida Family Association declared on its Web site. "So if BioWare, the maker of Star Wars video games, adds LGBT … Read more