4.24.2005

Microsoft caves to the religious right? As a Mac guy and someone with an aversion to monopolies, I see plenty of reasons to dislike Microsoft. Here's another: the company recently withdrew support for a bill that would've banned discrimination against gays and lesbians in Microsoft's home state of Washington, apparently caving to pressure by the religious right (an evangelical pastor in Redmond says he threatened a national boycott of the company if they continued to support House Bill 1515). Gay rights groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, are incensed, and the world's largest GLBT organization, the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, has asked Microsoft to return the Corporate Vision Award it was given in 2001 for its anti-discrimination work.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If this is so, it's just good business. What is so unusual about reflecting the values of the vast majority of your customers, neighbors and families.

This is not a "right wing" issue. It's mainstream America - we don't want to give people special rights just because they engage in anal intercourse.

Anonymous said...

OH CRAP, you mean if a man has anal sex with a woman that makes him GAY?!! And I will--I mean he will--lose any special rights? Shit!

Paul Schmelzer said...

Good point: defining homosexuality merely by what goes on in or around the anal sphincter seems a bit uninformed - and beside the point. The issue is discrimination, which "mainstream" America has long opposed. Were we working to secure "special rights" when we abolished slavery and miscegenation laws? Or were we merely trying to be a just country? How about when we fight foreign wars to protect the little guy from big oppressors? And wasn't our country founded so that people of all faiths could practice without harassment? Defending the rights of minorities is engrained in the American DNA. So why not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation?