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(Seattle, Washington) Microsoft's LGBT employees
in an open letter to company Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer say they
are unconvinced that the computer giant was not influenced by a conservative
Christian pastor to rescind endorsement of a gay civil rights bill in
Washington.
The legislation was defeated by a single vote in
the Washington state Senate last month after the company quietly pulled its
support for the measure. (story)
The bill had already passed the House.
The Microsoft move followed a meeting between the
company and the leader of an evangelical church located a stone's throw from
Microsoft's Redmond headquarters. The Rev. Ken Hutcherson allegedly threatened a
national boycott of Microsoft if it did not disavow itself from the gay rights
bill that would have made discrimination against members of the LGBT community
illegal.
When it came to light after the Senate vote, Microsoft's
withdrawal of support caused a storm of protests from Washington's gay community
and resulted in an email from Ballmer to all employees saying that the
company decided before the legislative session began that it should to narrow
its focus on a shorter list of issues directly affecting the business. (story)
The email did little to appease members of GLEAM,
Microsfot's LGBT organization. Nor did assurances from Gates that the firm may
rethink whether it will support legislation in the future.
"Next time this one comes around, we'll
see," Gates told the Seattle Times. "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."
But GLEAM is demanding that Microsft make its
decision now.
"We are deeply concerned about the way the decision was made, the
failure to anticipate its impact, and our inability to quickly repair the
damage once it had become evident," the group said in its letter to
Ballmer, made public on the weekend. "This shook our trust in executive
management, and has left us feeling abandoned, depressed, and embarrassed
for Microsoft."
GLEAM wants Ballmer to affirm Microsoft's support for
gay civil rights legislation,
acknowledge this year's neutral stance was a mistake and reaffirm the
company's commitment to diversity.
The group, in its letter also called on him to
make this position known to all employees, hold a diversity-awareness event for employees
and hold mandatory awareness workshops for management on gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender issues.
At press time the company had not responded.
Meanwhile, US
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) also has trouble accepting Microsoft's account of
the events which led to it pulling its support for the bill.
In a letter to the Microsoft general counsel Bradford L. Smith,
Frank said he was "extremely disappointed by Microsoft’s decision to
discontinue its advocacy of basic fairness for those who are victimized by
discrimination based on their sexual orientation."
"I want to be clear that I am unhappy with the fact of backing away from
your support for fair treatment for gay and lesbian people without being
certain as to the reason," Frank wrote. "But I have to add that,
having read [that] you denied that
right-wing pressure was a factor, I am unconvinced. It is generally my
experience that when highly intelligent people such as yourself say things
which are implausible, some other reason must be involved."
©365Gay.com 2005
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