Two of a kind make a pair? Most of the state's major corporations apparently believe the referendum on gay marriage is none of their business.

• Author: Otterbourg, Ken
• Position: FEATURE

Plenty of groups are weighing in on the May 8 referendum that seeks to amend the state constitution and define marriage as being only between a man and a woman. There are churches, mental-health associations and community groups. But one bloc is largely silent. It's the state's business community/ which by most indications is sitting this one out.

Not all businesses, of course, are on the sidelines. Equality NC, the Raleigh-based organization that is coordinating the opposition to the amendment, has a hefty list of businesses on its side, and campaign manager Jeremy Kennedy a veteran strategist who has experience with similar efforts in Maine and Rhode Island, says his group is working hard on recruiting companies to its side. But the list of current recruits is notable for the absence of the state's largest corporations, the big banks, utilities and tech companies that now define North Carolina's economy And that's not expected to change between now and the primary.

Contrast that to Washington state, which just concluded a fervent debate over legislation to allow gay marriage. There, the region's emblematic corporations--Microsoft Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Nike Inc.--threw their support behind the measure, which passed in mid-February. Many of North Carolina's largest companies have nondiscrimination rules that include sexual orientation, and they also offer partner benefits. But they're not taking a stand on marriage.

Take Winston-Salem-based Reynolds American Inc. A spokesman says the tobacco company doesn't plan to take a position. "The matter is coming before a public vote, and thus all North Carolinians will have an opportunity to express their view on the issue." Reynolds has an active and well-funded political action committee that gets involved in politics on the state and federal level. What's different this time, the spokesman says, is relevance. "A referendum on an amendment to the state constitution addressing marriage and legal unions is not a matter that is related to the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products."

Ken Eudy, a veteran lobbyist and political strategist in Raleigh, helped orchestrate the passage in 2004 of what was known as Amendment One, which permitted the use of tax-increment financing. The effort included substantial help from the business community. "Amendment One was a fair bit more complicated, but it was also an issue with something for everyone," from bankers and builders to union workers, which...