Corporate America has already said Yes to Gay Marriage

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing arguments on whether gay couples have a constitutional right to marry. But major American corporations have already heard the evidence —and in their own way, decided it's OK.

Beginning in 2002, a leading gay-rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, began systematically rating corporate America's commitment to gay rights. The effort was born in large part out of frustration with the political process.

But among the 688 major employers rated in its most recent survey, HRC found that 99 percent prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and 89 percent offer health benefits to domestic partners.

In addition, 65 percent have parity in "soft" benefits for spousal and domestic partners such as bereavement leave, employee assistance programs, employee discounts, and relocation assistance.

Among the 20 largest publicly-traded firms on the Fortune 500 list, 13 received a perfect 100 percent rating across a range of practices relating to gay rights. Those include: Chevron, General Motors, Bank of America, Ford, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, AIG, and IBM.

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