Civil Liberties

Could States that Bar Gay Marriage Recognition Suffer 'Brain Drain'?

Talent goes where it's recognized

|

Now that we have become what the Human Rights Campaign calls "two Americas" when it comes to gay rights, could a gay and lesbian "brain drain" away from states that ban same-sex marriage be far behind?

It was telling that 278 of America's top corporations and municipalities were so worried about losing talented gay and lesbian workers that they filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to take the action they did: throwing out California's Proposition 8 and gutting the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Several of those companies were concerned about losing LGBT workers with foreign-born partners, prompting the companies to write a letter to Congress saying, "We cannot afford to lose our most precious resource: talent."