Apple backs marriage equality campaign in Australia
Apple's having, let's say, a busy week.
In the lead-up to its low-key, laidback soiree on Tuesday (plugging leaks where possible), the company has thrown its hat in the ring for Australia's biggest national debate: same-sex marriage.
Apple has pledged support for marriage equality in Australia in an emailed statement sent by its public relations team on Sept. 11. It reads:
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We support marriage equality and believe all Australians deserve the freedom to marry the person they love, and to have their relationships recognised with the same dignity and legal protections as their neighbours, friends, and family.
Apple's support comes a week after Australia's High Court handed down a decision to allow the federal government to implement a non-binding, non-compulsory postal plebiscite asking the question: “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” Australians will receive their postal survey after Sept. 12 and will have until Nov. 7 to mail it back to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Then, the survey results will be announced on Nov. 15, after which the issue will be voted upon in federal parliament.
Apple has been a supporter of marriage equality around the globe for years. In 2016, its logo joined the Australian Marriage Equality page, alongside other major companies like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, IBM, McDonalds, Mastercard, Adobe, Airbnb, Virgin, Qantas, and top Australian banks like Commonwealth and Westpac.
When the U.S. legalised same-sex marriage in 2015, Apple issued an elated statement:
We applaud the Supreme Court and everyone who worked so hard in the years leading up to today's historic decision. This is a momentous step forward for equality and fundamental human rights in the United States. We could not be happier for our employees, customers and people all over America who now have the right to marry the one they love.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who came out in 2014 at the age of 53, has lead the company's pro-equality messaging. Here's his tweet from June 25, 2015, when same-sex marriage was declared legal in the US:
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Now that Apple's publicly taken a side in Australia's own road to same-sex marriage, it's back to the big event.
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
