In a Reverse,
Microsoft Says It Supports Gay Rights Bill
By SARAH KERSHAW,
NYTimes on the Web, May 7, 2005
Microsoft, faced with unrelenting
criticism from employees and gay rights groups over its decision to abandon
support of a gay rights bill in Washington state, reversed course again
yesterday and announced that it was now in support of the bill.
Steve Ballmer, the company's chief executive, announced the reversal in an
e-mail message sent to 35,000 employees in the United States. "After
looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the
workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included
in our legislative agenda," Mr. Ballmer said.
He added: "I respect that there will be different viewpoints. But as
C.E.O., I am doing what I believe is right for our company as a whole."
Long known for its internal policies protecting gay employees from
discrimination and offering them benefits, Microsoft sparked an uproar when
officials decided to take a "neutral" stance on the antidiscrimination bill this
year, after having supported it the two previous years.
Critics, including employees who said they were told that Microsoft would back
the bill, said the decision to withdraw support had been made under pressure
from a local evangelical preacher who threatened to boycott the company if it
supported the legislation this year. Company officials have disputed the
accusation.
The bill, which would have extended protections against discrimination in
employment, housing and other areas to gay men and lesbians, failed by one vote
on April 21. But it is automatically up for a new vote next year because
bills introduced in the Washington Legislature are active for two years even if
they are voted down the first time.
After the defeat, Mr. Ballmer sent an e-mail message to company employees,
defending the decision to withdraw support. In that note, Mr. Ballmer said
that he and Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, personally supported the measure
but felt the company needed to focus its legislative efforts on measures that
had a more direct connection to their business.
In yesterday's message Mr. Ballmer suggested that employees' responses had
helped persuade Microsoft officials to renew their backing of the measure.
More than 1,500 employees signed an internal petition demanding that the company
support the bill, and scores wrote in protest to Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Gates.
A Microsoft executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that senior
company officials met after Microsoft's widely publicized turnaround on the bill
prompted an uproar, and that they had decided to change the company's stance
because of pressure from employees.
"This issue got attention at the highest levels of the company in a way it
didn't before," said the executive, who did not attend the meeting but was
briefed on it. "It was a rocky path, but we got to the right place."
Some lawmakers had said that Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., could have lent
crucial backing to the legislation through influence on lawmakers representing
Redmond and the suburbs outside Seattle.
In explaining why the company had not supported the bill this year, Mr. Ballmer
and other Microsoft officials had said over the last two weeks that they were
re-examining their legislative priorities and debating when and whether to
become involved in public policy debates.
Gay rights groups said they were contacted by Microsoft officials before Mr.
Ballmer's statement was publicly released. They applauded the decision.
"We're very happy," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign,
a national gay advocacy group.
Mr. Solmonese met recently with several Microsoft employees after he learned of
the earlier decision not to back the bill, which was first disclosed by The
Stranger, an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle.
The Microsoft officials, Mr. Solmonese said, "took it very seriously."
"They said that there had been a huge outpouring of concern via e-mail, both
internally and externally," he said.
Ed Murray, an openly gay state legislator from Seattle and a sponsor of the
bill, said of the company's reversal: "I think it's important. It
sent a message that this issue is not simply a so-called social issue or
cultural war issue, but it's an issue that is good for business, and it's an
issue that business considers important."
But the company's decision disappointed others, including Microsoft employees
who belong to the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond. The church is led by
the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, who met with Microsoft officials twice about the bill
and claimed to have persuaded them to change their position on it.
"I feel that it's been kind of a stressful day," said a Microsoft employee who
is a member of the church and who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I feel
that it was wrong for the company to say that they will be supporting issues
such as this. Businesses should not actually be publicly taking a stance
on that, regardless of their internal policies."
The employee, who has worked at Microsoft for four years, said the company
should "stay out of it" when it comes to the debate over gay rights.
Dr. Hutcherson, whose church offices are near Microsoft's headquarters, said
earlier that he believed his boycott threat had persuaded Microsoft not to
support the bill. He did not respond to messages left yesterday on his
cellphone and at his office.
Steve Lohr contributed reporting for this article.
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