A Stitch in Haste

Okay folks, I'm standing athwart yelling "Stop!"

In a move that angered many of the company's gay employees, the Microsoft Corporation, publicly perceived as the vanguard institution of the new economy, has taken a major political stand in favor of age-old discrimination.

The Stranger has learned that last month the $37-billion Redmond-based software behemoth quietly withdrew its support for House bill 1515, the anti-gay-discrimination bill currently under consideration by the Washington State legislature, after being pressured by the Evangelical Christian pastor of a suburban megachurch. The pastor, Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, met with a senior Microsoft executive in February and threatened to organize a national boycott of the company's products if it did not change its stance on the legislation...

Now it's very cute for local not-quite-newspapers to run "exposés" about a company like Microsoft. But as you read through the tirade, you quickly see that the piece is nothing more than 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.

Let's look at Microsoft's record:

• Employs 57,000 people; 28,000 in the State of Washington alone (in over 9 million square feet of Washington office space).


• Annual revenues of $36 billion.


• Income taxes of $4 billion (I shudder to think how much they pay Washington State in property taxes).


• Recently paid a special $32 billion dividend, more than the GDP of some countries.


• Has been playing some very self-confident brinksmanship with the European Union, where the stakes were not a boycott by a few hundred (probably computer-illiterate) bigots, but 5% of their global revenues.


• A founder, chairman and CEO who is not known either as an arch-conservative or a spineless wimp.

Who could possibly believe that such a "behemoth" (the Stranger's rather un-journalistic term) is about to be intimidated by some third-rate Bible-thumper?

The Stranger may be selling, but I'm not buying.

Those unfortunately falling for the yellow journalism include Obsidian Wings, SuperTan, Good As You, AmericaBlog, TowleRoad and GeorgiaBoy.

Bravo on the other hand to Soul of Wit and Bent for remaining skeptical.

Meanwhile, here's an Advocate story about how Microsoft really feels about its gay employees. Which is more likely -- schizophrenic mega-corporation or incendiary local hack quasi-journalist?