SF Giants Culture Shift: Baseball, Peanuts, Crackerjacks and Gay Marriage

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The San Francisco Giants stepped out of the batter’s box and walked off the mound on Friday to infuse gay marriage politics into America’s favorite pastime.

Joining the Tampa Bay Rays and the NFL’s New England Patriots, the 2014 World Series Champions and one of the oldest franchises in Major League Baseball, signed a legal brief advocating that the U.S. Supreme Court terminate state bans on same-sex marriage.

The brief contends that state marriage laws are unfair because they impose economic burdens, discriminate, and damage the way the teams do business. The brief states that the teams “ability to grow and maintain our businesses by attracting and retaining the best employee talent is hindered.”

It is unclear whether the brief explains exactly how gay marriage acceptance fosters strategic talent retention.

Other San Francisco centered companies that signed the brief included Brocade, Cisco Systems, Facebook, Google, Levi Strauss & Co., the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Twitter, Wells Fargo & Co. and Zynga.

Overall, 300 companies signed the 127 page brief, SFGate reported.

Giants President Larry Baer said, “San Francisco is the epicenter of the marriage equality movement, and it is only fitting that its professional sports team would join in this effort. The San Francisco Giants are proud to sign the brief because it speaks directly to our core values of equality and social justice for all.”

In January the Supreme Court agreed to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Oral arguments will begin in April and the high court expects to issue a ruling before June, when the court term ends.

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