The old saying goes...

politics makes strange bedfellows.  It's very true and the latest case involves the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay-advocacy group and one of the major companies joining a coaltion founded by HRC to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  That company is Marriott International, Inc.  A company founded by a devout Mormon. A company run by a devout Mormon who happens to be the son of the founder. 

John Willard Marriott (what's up with Willard as a name for Mormons?) founded the company and today his son Bill is the executive chairman and chairman of the board and other members of the Marriott family own large chunks of the company.  The Mormon church is in favor of the ban on gay marriage and worked hard to pass Proposition 8 in California.  But Bill Marriott is the leader of a business where the personal beliefs of himself and other major owners don't impact how they choose to operate the business and serve their customers.  "We are proud of our longstanding commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equal treatment of our employees within our benefits programs" said a company spokesman.

It's also worth noting that the company markets to gays by saying "We invite you, to be you, with us" and promotes the use of their facilities in same-sex weddings and civil ceremonies.

I've met Bill Marriott.  I was impressed by him then and I'm even more impressed now.  He said something that should be mandatory reading for every bigot who refuses to offer the service of their business to gays, same-sex weddings and so on.  Bill Marriott said "Our church is very much opposed to alcohol and we're probably one of the biggest sales engines of liquor in the United States.  I don't drink.  We serve a lot of liquor."

What a great analogy.  What you choose to do in your personal life is your business. What you choose to do in discriminating against what your customers do is not just your business  Businesses that choose to practice exclusionary behavior should be boycotted.

Kudos to Bill Marriott and his company.