OrangeSoul Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp., one of the earliest companies to extend benefits to gay employees, now finds itself in the crosshairs of angry activists for rescinding support for gay rights legislation in its home state. Critics say the world's No. 1 software maker caved to pressure from an NFL linebacker-turned-local pastor who had threatened to launch a nationwide boycott, and tried to tiptoe away from a bill it had previously supported. Last week, the measure failed in Washington state's Senate by a single vote. Bloggers branded Microsoft a corporate coward, and a prominent gay rights group asked the company to return a civil rights award it had bestowed on the tech giant four years ago. It's an unusually sticky spot for a brainy company that has taken pride in its progressive employment policies. Sensitive to employees as well as image concerns, the company's top executives were forced to do some very public soul-searching. "We are thinking hard about what is the right balance to strike ? when should a public company take a position on a broader social issue, and when should it not?" CEO Steve Ballmer wrote in an e-mail to employees on Friday. "What message does the company taking a position send to its employees who have strongly held beliefs on the opposite side of the issue?" A few days later, Chairman Bill Gates said he was surprised by the negative reaction and said the company may rethink its position. "Well, we didn't expect that kind of visibility for it," Gates told The Seattle Times. "After all, Microsoft's position on a political bill ? has that ever caused something to pass or not pass? Is it good, is it bad? I don't know." Microsoft contends it decided before the just-ended legislative session to take a neutral stance on a gay rights bill it had once championed so it could focus efforts on a shorter list of issues, like computer privacy, education and transportation. Daryl Herrschaft, a deputy director of the workplace project at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group, says Microsoft's behavior ran against the grain in the business world. The Boeing Co., Nike, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Molson Coors Brewing Co., and Levi Strauss & Co., are among businesses that supported the Washington state bill, which would have banned discrimination against homosexuals in housing, employment and insurance. Asked why Hewlett-Packard supported it, John Hassell, the computer maker's director of federal and state governmental affairs said: "One word: competitiveness." HP started offering domestic partner benefits to gay employees in 1996 ? three years after Microsoft did ? and, like Microsoft, has an anti-discrimination policy that protects gays. "It's not just a nice-to-do thing. It's a requirement to be successful in the private sector," Hassell said. Bradley Googins, executive director of the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, said he expects more businesses to be faced with the same kind of PR problem that's fallen on Microsoft. "Businesses today are right square in the middle of all sorts of real thorny dilemmas because of the shifting nature between the role of business in society and business in government." The pressure on Microsoft recalls criticism of The Walt Disney Co. by conservative Christian groups for the Gay Days gathering held at the company's theme parks. The groups have since the mid-1990s urged consumers to boycott the company, which cooperates with organizers of the gatherings, but does not sponsor them. Disney has repeatedly refused, though, to disassociate itself from the Gay Days events. Microsoft didn't blink when it had to stare down the U.S. Justice Department on antitrust, which has left many people wondering why the company appears to have gotten nervous about a threatening minister. The local former Seattle Seahawk turned evangelical pastor, Ken Hutcherson, had threatened the boycott in a meeting with Microsoft a few months ago. Hutcherson, who is black, said he never had a problem with Microsoft's own anti-discrimination policies ? even though he believes gays don't belong in the same group as African Americans and other minorities who have fought for equal rights. "When they stepped out and tried to make their policy my policy and other companies' policy and the state's policy, they stepped into a den of snakes and I was the main cobra," Hutcherson said. He's accused the company of lying about when it decided not to support the bill. Microsoft has called it a big misunderstanding. "In hindsight, we clearly should have communicated more proactively about this position," said Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray. And Gates' statement that Microsoft might reconsider its position next year was considered a mixed message by some. "We're going to continue to put pressure on Microsoft until they definitively come out in support of this bill again," said George Cheung, executive director for Equal Rights Washington, the state's largest gay rights group. Tina Podlodowski, a former Seattle City Councilwoman who heads up the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, once worked for Microsoft and helped persuade executives to offer domestic partner benefits to gays and lesbians, like herself. She said she's angry now but hopeful the company will give her a reason to be proud of it again. "I fundamentally believe that this is a company that does the right thing," she said, "not just because it's right but because it's also good for business." http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...soft_gay_rights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoufo51 Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 YEAH! Lets tar and feather them varmints and keelhaul them and dip them in hot oil too! But seriously...could ur title be any more baity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotix Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Headline is a bit disingenuous, and... No can do. First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids it.* They can go to jail alright, but being a religious wacko isn't one of the reasons for meriting arrest and prosecution. * Only applies in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smaulz Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 hmmm... slightly nazi-ish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PseudoRandomDragon Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 What surprises me is that Microsoft gives a damn about how anyone feels about their company. What are they gunna do? Use Linux? Spend thousands on Macs to replace their PCs? Ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starcom826 Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Fundamentalists of all religions. Anarchists. Communists. Socialists. Anarco-pacifists. Neo-nazis. Let's arrest everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted April 29, 2005 Veteran Share Posted April 29, 2005 I'd like to rename this thread. Is the thread starter suggesting the fundamentalist that should be jailed is the "NFL linebacker-turned-local pastor" or are we angry that Microsoft took a stand on a polical issue (and then caved to local pressure)? Or are the gay-rights activisits the fundamentalists on this issue? Oh well, I'll rename it somehow... [Thread Renamed] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stopdroproll Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 Hahaahhahahahahahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotRoot Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Has nobody else thought that maybe Microsoft just thinks it shouldn't stand on an issue like this either way? Its a company. MS has its own policies that are pro gay-rights in the first place, so who cares if it says whether the company supports the bill or not? It is obvious they do, because they already have their own policies in place without being required to by said bill. A company's public opinion should be nuetral, at least from a business stand point. Although it is the board of director's choice, it is still a better choice to be externally nuetral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Douglas Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 Looks like Microsoft was reversed their position and is now supporting the bill again. Good job Microsoft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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