–Edward
via bloggy
~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE: I note this mainly because KipEsquire took me (and other blogs) to task for taking seriously what he called a "local not-quite-newspaper…" who ran a story that was a "collection of rants by low-level, and in many instances anonymous, Microsoft employees who can neither speak for the company nor produce any memos, emails, or any other hard proof of, well, anything." Now that The New York Times has confirmed the story, are ya a little less skeptical Kip?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken Hutcherson may very well cut an imposing figure. He was, after all, a football player with the Cowboys, the Chargers and the Seahawks. But to think this one man would walk into Microsoft’s Redmond, WA, corporate headquarters and blackmail this international behemoth into withdrawing its support for a state-wide gay civil rights bill is impressive indeed.
House Bill 1515 would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in employment, housing, banking, insurance, and other matters by adding sexual orientation to a state law which already bars discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, and mental or physical handicap. More than a dozen states currently have similar laws on the books, but the effort to pass the legislation in Washington State has been a struggle. Some form of the legislation has been introduced in the state legislature for 29 consecutive years; for the last 10 years, [State Rep. Ed ] Murray, an influential legislator who chairs the House Transportation Committee, has sponsored the bill.
The list of high-profile companies that endorsed the bill this year reads like a who’s who of the Pacific Northwest corporate world. It includes the Boeing Company, Nike, Coors Brewing, Qwest Communications, Washington Mutual, Hewlett-Packard, Corbis, Battelle Memorial Institute, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc., and others. And as late as February 1, Microsoft, which issued a letter in support of the bill last year, appeared poised to do so again.
On that date, two gay Microsoft employees, Jean McCarthy, a business development manager, and Gregory S. McCurdy, a senior attorney, testified in the house State Government Operations and Accountability committee in favor of the bill. Asked if they were making their statements as official representatives of the company, McCurdy informed the committee that they were appearing in a personal capacity, but added that "the company has taken a position in support of the bill." He further stated that DeLee Shoemaker, an aide to former Governor Gary Locke who now handles state-level government relations for Microsoft, had issued a letter in support of the bill. "We are going to be providing copies of that letter to the committee," he said.
Enter Hutcherson, who heads a local mega-church. He met with Microsoft officials and threatened a national boycott of its products if they didn’t change their stance on the legislation. Apparently he was very convincing. At an April 4 meeting that Microsoft officials warned was supposed to be confidential (but one attendee later reported to the stranger.com) Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft’s senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, told gay staffers the corporation had caved, and because of the threat would declare itself neutral on the legislation.
Read more
Despite the growing criticism and high-profile 