By Lisa Keen
OLYMPIA – The Microsoft Corporation, once heralded by many in the gay community as a model employer when it comes to treating gay employees fairly, is scrambling now to explain why it suddenly decided to withdraw its support from a Washington state gay civil rights bill, which failed by only one vote last week.
Microsoft is claiming that it simply decided to be "neutral" on the state legislation this year, in part, it said, because the county where most of its employees work already has non-discrimination protection and in part because the corporation wanted to focus "on a limited number of issues that are directly related to our business."
But according to a weekly Seattle newspaper, The Stranger, which broke the story, Microsoft's decision to position itself as neutral on the bill was really a move to avert a threatened boycott by the religious right. The Stranger reported that Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president, told a group of gay employees at an April 4 meeting that a local evangelical Christian pastor had threatened to organize a national boycott of Microsoft products unless the company withdrew its support of the bill and fire two employees who had testified in favor of it.
In an interview with the New York Times, the pastor, Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington, confirmed that he did threaten Microsoft with a boycott.
"I told them I was going to give them something to be afraid of Christians about," Hutcherson told the Times, adding that Microsoft "backed off" from the civil rights bill after that threat.
While acknowledging that the corporation did meet with Hutcherson, Microsoft steadfastly denies that the company decided to withdraw its support for the gay civil rights bill because of pressure from Hutcherson or anyone else. Corporate spokeswoman Tami Begasse said Microsoft officials met with a variety of people and groups on both sides of the bill and "listened to all points of view" but that its legislative team had decided "long before" the meeting with Hutcherson to limit corporate activity this year to state legislation which is "directly related to our business." She said the company was "disappointed" that various reports have been "misrepresenting" the meeting between Hutcherson and Microsoft. She said the company, in fact, rejected Hutcherson's requests that Microsoft oppose the gay civil rights bill and fire the two employees who testified for it.
She declined to identify which Microsoft officials met with Hutcherson or to identify any other legislation which the corporation chose to be "neutral" on in this year's legislative session. Begasse also noted that, "on a statewide basis, we've never lobbied" for or against the gay civil rights bill, although she did acknowledge that the company did "sign a letter" in support of the bill last year.
But the fallout around Microsoft's neutrality on the legislation has been swift and harsh.
The Gay & Lesbian Center in Los Angeles has asked the corporation to return its "Corporate Vision Award" presented to Microsoft in 2001. The award was presented to Microsoft at the Center's 30th anniversary event in recognition of the company the Center said "set the highest standard for others by exhibiting leadership and vision in advancing the cause of GLBT equality." It was accepted by Microsoft's first openly gay executive at the company, Ben Waldman.
Lorri L. Jean, executive director of the Center, said Microsoft had long supported the Washington state legislation and that its decision to take a neutral position was particularly "alarming because it came after meetings with a local extremist religious leader."
"Their protestations of wanting to remain 'neutral' are incredible," said Jean. "Silence in the face of bigotry and discrimination can in no way be viewed as 'neutrality.'" Such silence, said Jean, "essentially constitutes agreement with the status quo of it being legal to discriminate against GLBT people in the state of Washington."
"But when such silence is the result of a change in position," she said, "it clearly reflects just that – a change from the previous position in favor of nondiscrimination and equality."
The Washington State House had passed the gay civil rights bill in February, but the state Senate vote came up one vote shy April 21. Equal Rights Washington, a statewide gay lobby group, noted that the 25 NO votes included two Democrats and all 23 Republicans.
It's the Republican vote that convinces Equal Rights Washington that Microsoft's neutrality did have a negative impact on the senate vote. While the bill has never been on the senate floor before for a vote, Equal Rights Washington Executive Director George Cheung notes that "we had two to three Republicans ready to vote with us, if they were free to vote their conscience." But, said Cheung, Republican Senate minority leader Bill Finkbeiner, who represents the district where Microsoft is headquartered, "put a lock on the Republican caucus" which forced them to vote against the measure.
"When Microsoft took a neutral position, they backtracked, and that gave more cover to Finkbeiner to lock up his caucus," said Cheung. Cheung said Equal Rights Washington has invited Microsoft officials to a gay community town meeting on May 5 "to explain their position."
"It does seem odd," said Cheung, "given their strong history of equal rights for their employees, that they would cave into a conservative preacher."
