Facebook donated $10,000 to Republican fighting same-sex marriage
Facebook has made a $10,000 donation to Utah Republican Sean Reyes, who is currently fighting against same-sex marriage in court.
The social network donated the sum to Reyes’ primary campaign to keep his position of Utah Attorney General.
In December, Reyes said he would “spend whatever it takes” to fight against same-sex marriage following a court ruling striking down the state’s marriage ban.
Facebook’s donation was discovered by Bob Henline of QSaltLake in Reyes’ campaign disclosure document, which showed the large sum recorded on May 13.
The social network defended the move in a statement to Huffington Post, saying: “Facebook has a strong record on LGBT issues and that will not change, but we make decisions about which candidates to support based on the entire portfolio of issues important to our business, not just one.
“A contribution to a candidate does not mean that we agree with every policy or position that candidate takes.
“We made this donation for the same reason we’ve donated to Attorneys General on the opposite side of this issue – because they are committed to fostering innovation and an open Internet.”
Mr Henline said: “I’m an activist within the community, and Sean Reyes has drawn my distaste for his comments about the LGBT community.
“So I wanted to see who was funding his campaign, and when I looked through the disclosures, I discovered that Facebook was his second-largest contributor.
“Being a Facebook user, I have always assumed that it was pro-equality and pro-diversity, so it shocked me.”
Facebook’s founding president Sean Parker was caught donating to anti-gay Republicans last month.
