Microsoft Goes Limp

News in this a.m.'s NYTimes is that Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, has caved in to pressure from a huge local evangelical church and withdrawn its corporate support for a Washington state law that would have barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

"The bill, or similar versions of it, has been introduced repeatedly over three decades; it failed by one vote Thursday in the State Senate. Gay rights advocates denounced Microsoft, which had supported the bill for the last two years, for abandoning their cause."

Apparently the pastor of Antioch Bible Church, Ken Hutcherson, had threatened to organize a nationwide Christian Right boycott of Microsoft products. The Rev. Hutcherson, just beginning to flex his bigotry, also demanded that Microsoft fire its employees who had spoken out publicly in favor of the equal protection law. This latter demand the company declined ... at least so far.

Just another reason to despise Microsoft.