Latest on Microsoft, they're hoping it blows over

Seattle Times has a new story about the Gay and Lesbian Center demanding their award back.

At this point, I can tell you where things stand. It's the same story with every company we've taken on - from AOL to Paramount. They're having crisis meetings. Their public relations "experts" are telling them to "tough it out." "This will all blow over in a few days. Just keep telling folks this is all a misunderstanding and remind them how pro-gay we've been in the past."

Problem is, someone hasn't learned the lessons of history. America Online tried that strategy when they outed gay sailor Timothy McVeigh (not THAT Timothy McVeigh) back in 1997. The result? Because AOL kept lying and twisting the truth and avoiding coming clean, the story grew and grew and became one of the top 100 stories of the year, and AOL's brand was damaged, and remains so in the gay community to this day.

Then there was Paramount. Remember them? Oh, the silly gays are launching a boycott because of mean old Dr. Laura. Silly, silly gays. Everyone knows boycotts don't work. But this time, oops, they did. 170 top advertisers dropped Dr. Laura's TV show and she lost $30m in advertising from her radio show. And the show was canceled. All because those silly gays had a dream and didn't give up.

There are more examples. And a lot of them I've worked on. Every single time - like clockwork - the big bad company writes off the small insignificant gay activists and waits for the controversy to blow over. And every single time the controversy grows and grows until finally the company is shitting bricks, and their public relations people are replaced with folks who get it. And by the end, we win.

So, Microsoft, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I've been here before. You haven't.