Micro-too-soft

Great opinion piece.

Shall we call it Micro-too-soft?

Faced with a decision of conscience on whether to back a state bill to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination, the software giant decided to take the "neutral" position.

That's Microsoft code for what you and I might call "chickening out."

For a company that presents itself as cutting-edge and forward-thinking, such a move seems backward. And for a company recognized as a corporate leader for its treatment of gay employees, such inaction seems hypocritical, too.

Given the chance to help deal a blow against ignorance and lead Washington state out of the dark ages, the visionaries in Redmond took one look at a tough issue and went soft....

The African American minister sounds too comfortable using the Bible to justify discrimination. Shame, shame on this soul brother. He quickly forgets the day when racial prejudice prohibited his forebears from sitting at cafe counters -- and before that, when the Bible was used to justify slavery....

What Microsoft truly fears -- and what company representatives won't say publicly -- is the red Republican tide rolling across the country.

There are a lot of computers and software customers out in those Republican-leaning states. In the inner sanctum of Bill Gates' Redmond campus, I picture number crunchers trying to figure out whether all of that money is worth losing over a gay rights bill in a state divided on the issue.

Judging by their response, they said heck no.

Theirs was a business decision. Faced with offending right-wing conservatives who could boycott en masse or gays and lesbians in Washington state who were far too meek as the bill came under fire in Olympia, Microsoft punted....