Last week, Apple and Google
made headlines for announcing their opposition to California's
Proposition 8, which aims to restrict marriage to couples of different
genders. At the time, following Apple's announcement, some, including Valleywag,
asked why Yahoo!, still a thought leader in the Valley despite their
many troubles, was remaining quiet on the issue. The company's Pride page
features a "Vote No on Prop 8" link, but the company's leadership
hasn't made the same headlines as Apple and Google have with their
visible opposition.
Yang and Filo Both Donated $15k Against Prop 8
Without drawing attention, Yahoo! co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo have both donated $15,000 apiece, opposing proposition 8, according to public contribution records. (See: San Francisco Chronicle) In fact, the $15,000 donations make each of them the highest level donations in the city of Sunnyvale, almost double the third highest entry, which provides $8,000 in favor of the initiative passing.
The Pair's Contributions Lead Sunnyvale Donors
The controversial initiative is seeing money flow into the campaign for both sides, and recent polls have the initiative running with an even chance of passing, despite Silicon Valley's vocal opposition.
While Yang and Filo have made personal contributions against Prop 8, Yahoo!, aside from their Pride page, has made no official statement. My previous discussion on Prop 8 can be found here. And while I have heard some small buzz in the "Yes on 8" circles that they will boycott companies that oppose the initiative, at the rate it's going, they might not be able to search the Web or even use an iPod, so maybe they should at least rethink that strategy...
The full database of donations for and against Proposition 8 can be found at the San Francisco Chronicle's special page: http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/prop8/
