Like most of us, Jennifer Cast said she figured her former boss, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was well aware of the threat to gay marriage in Washington State by the upcoming the ballot iniative and wrote to him, "I figured that if you felt the desire to support marriage equality, you would do it." But, unlike many of us, this time she spoke up with a direct ask, and for the first time in twelve years working on the issue, Cast, 50, partners of 20+ years with Liffy Franklin, 63, emailed Bezos, "I beg you not to sit on the sidelines and hope the vote goes our way. Help us make it so." She wrote, "We need help from straight people. To be very frank, we need help from wealthy straight people who care about us and who want to help us win." She asked the billionaire for a contribution of $100,000 to $200,000. Within thirty-six hours he replied, "Jen, this is right for so many reasons. We’re in for $2.5 million. Jeff & MacKenzie"
This is the largest ever donation in support of marriage equality and it only happened because a lesbian spoke up and asked for it. Learn from her. The announcement also inspired other gifts, according to the Seattle Times, which reports, "Cast said she has received hundreds of emails since news of Bezos' gift broke early Friday from well-wishers and those who suddenly wanted to give. One donor pledged $25,000."
Jeff Bezos is worth $18.4 billion. Although William Lynch, the CEO of Barnes & Noble, isn't a billionaire, his compensation last year was $10 million, going up to $15.3 million this year. He doesn't have a connection to Washington State, but some of the Amazon haters need to ask Lynch for a significant donation. He can give to Maryland's or to Maine's campaign.
What she said: I beg you not to sit on the sidelines and hope the vote goes our way.
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