Goldman (Same)Sex

A few years ago Llyod Blankenfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, made a commercial in support of same-sex marriage.

At that time, Blankenfein said, he had the feeling that he was taking a timely stand on what many consider to be the era's most important civil rights issue in America. Blankenfein was surprised to find that he was a bit lonely out there at that time, but the "virus," as it were, of marriage equality spread and this week, Goldman Sachs was one of more than a 100 corporations that lodged their support for same-sex marriage in two briefs filed with the Supreme Court. 

Historically, corporate America has been a laggard in participation in civil rights movements. It doesn't want to get involved in politics for obvious reasons.

According to Gavin Wright, Professor of American economic history at Stanford University,

[Corporate America] supported a public accommodations law only after sit-ins and boycotts inflicted heavy losses and it became clear that these pressures were not going to fade away as the latest student fad. On employment, even leading textile firms resisted and dragged their feet, certainly not testifying in support of civil rights legislation. But that changed [...] when they found that desegregation actually worked.

Corporations avoided Equal Rights movement and decades ago showed little interest in the Women's Movement. While many companies have joined in Supreme Court briefs in recent years in support of Affirmative Action and diversity in workplaces, the participation came after a long time.

Corporate America no longer wants to lag behind as a socially and politically conscientious entity. 

The world has changed since the time of the preceding civil rights and image counts as does the intricate interconnection between being "good" and being "profitable," at least on the outside. 

"I think people wanted to attach themselves to what may be the last great civil rights issue of our time," remarked Blankenfein (after pocketing a record CEO package this year).