You’ll Get Misty Over Apple’s New Ad Supporting Same-Sex Marriage in Australia
Apple, the most valuable publicly traded company of all time led by openly gay CEO Tim Cook, just released a commercial in Australia celebrating the country’s recent passage of marriage equality, something the company supported. The commercial features footage from several different same-sex weddings, shot on iPhones, set to a cover of the 1988 INXS song “Never Tear Us Apart,” performed by Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett specifically for this Apple marriage equality ad.
On Sept. 11, 2017 — a week after Australia’s High Court approved a national non-binding nationwide plebiscite on whether to legalize marriage equality — Apple wrote a brief statement in support of Australian marriage equality. It read:
We support marriage equality and believe all Australians deserve the freedom to marry the person they love, and to have their relationships recognized with the same dignity and legal protections as their neighbors, friends, and family.
In 2008, Apple vocally opposed California’s Proposition 8, a ballot measure that successfully banned same-sex marriage in the state, by releasing a statement and donating $100,000 against the measure.
Apple’s 2008 statement against Proposition 8 read:
Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.
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While the advertisement above is lovely and a great example of a company embracing cultural progress, Apple itself has a mixed legacy when it comes to LGBTQ content. Early into the development of its iPhone App Store, the company routinely rejected the mildest of gay sexuality while allowing more graphic heterosexual content.
