Business

BOSTON — Nearly 300 corporations, cities, and other organizations filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, encouraging it to overturn a section of the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits and recognition to same-sex couples.

More than 60 U.S. corporations — including Apple, eBay, Facebook, Intel, Nike and Morgan Stanley — have signed on to an amicus brief in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court challenge to Proposition 8, California’s voter approved ban on same-sex marriage.

Personal finance expert Suze Orman says that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages, imposes steep financial penalties on gay and lesbian couples.

CHICAGO — The aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing said Friday that it has altered its policies on providing survivor pension benefits to same-sex couples during negotiations with union representatives this week. During extensive contract negotiations last November, Boeing executives told the union negotiators that since pensions are governed by federal law, which does not recognize same-sex […]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday announced a settlement agreement in a claim it brought against Bank of America for discriminating against a lesbian couple applying for a federally insured mortgage loan.

Morgan Stanley has announced the launch of an LGBT initiative to provide its financial advisors with wealth planning tools, business development and marketing resources designed specifically for LGBT prospects and clients.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The Merck Foundation, the charitable arm of Merck & Co., one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has announced it has suspended all funding to the Boys Scouts of America.

The anti-gay group that bills itself as “One Million Moms” — who resurrected their fight against JC Penney earlier this week over a new ad featuring Ellen DeGeneres — has dumped its latest protest after only three days.

In an email to it 56,000 employees, Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom on Thursday announced its support for marriage equality, and the Washington state ballot initiative, Referendum 74, that would legalize same-sex marriage.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — After successively lobbying Intel Corporation to end its corporate contributions to the Boy Scouts of America last month, LGBT rights advocate Zach Wahls has set his sights on United Parcel Service.