In an e-mail to employees on May 6, Microsoft Corporation CEO Steve Ballmer said the software company will publicly support gay-rights legislation in the future, according to the Associated Press.
The e-mail, posted on a Microsoft employee's Web log, came two weeks after gay-rights activists accused the company of withdrawing its support for an anti-discrimination bill in its home state after an evangelical pastor's threat to launch a national boycott. '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,' Ballmer wrote.
Late last month, Ballmer said the company had decided to focus on a shorter list of legislative priorities that had a more direct impact on the company's software business well before executives met with the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of a Redmond church who has organized anti-gay-marriage rallies in Seattle and Washington, D.C. Hutcherson said he pressured Microsoft after hearing two employees testify in favor of a bill in the Washington Legislature that would have banned discrimination against gays in housing, employment, and insurance. The measure, House Bill 1515, lost by one vote in the state Senate in late April.
Many advocates attacked Microsoft, calling the company a corporate coward, and one gay group in Los Angeles asked the company to return an award.
In his e-mail, Ballmer said the company will continue to focus its lobbying efforts on issues that most directly affect Microsoft, such as Internet safety, intellectual property rights, free trade, a healthy business climate —and gay rights.