Microsoft rethinks stance on discrimination bill
REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft Corp. may rethink whether it will support legislation banning discrimination against gays and lesbians, company Chairman Bill Gates says.
In an interview with the Seattle Times, Gates said he was surprised by the fierce criticism that followed the company’s decision to take a neutral stance on a state gay rights bill it had supported in previous years. The legislation failed by one vote in the Washington state Senate on Thursday, spurring outrage among advocates who accused Microsoft of caving to political pressure from an evangelical pastor.
“Next time this one comes around, we’ll see,” Gates said in the story published Tuesday.
“We certainly have a lot of employees who sent us mail. Next time it comes around that’ll be a major factor for us to take into consideration.”
Microsoft, one of the first companies to offer domestic partner benefits to gay employees, has denied that the pastor or anyone else outside the company influenced its decision. Gates said executives weren’t expecting a backlash.
“Well, we didn’t expect that kind of visibility for it,” Gates told the 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.”
Gates echoed the statement Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made in an e-mail to employees Friday, explaining that the company decided before the legislative session began that it should narrow its focus on a shorter list of issues directly affecting the business.
Two Microsoft employees testified in support of the anti-discrimination measure. The Rev. Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond then met with Microsoft executives and threatened to organize a national boycott of Microsoft products if it continued supporting the bill.
Gates said he and Ballmer both support the measure personally but, “we won’t always pick every issue for the company to have a position on.”
Gay rights groups have said they feel betrayed. On Friday, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center asked Microsoft to return a civil rights award it gave the company in 2001. Liberal Web bloggers have urged their critics to organize their own Microsoft boycott.
Gates said he welcomed the feedback.
“It’s perfectly fair for us to be scrutinized on anything,” Gates said. “We didn’t realize that one would get that level of scrutiny, but there’s people who care a lot. They care a lot about the issue.”