Microsoft's switch: what's it mean?

This is a big deal. John was doing some traveling today, so anxious to get his thoughts.

But here's my initial take:

We showed that you can't screw with us. Microsoft picked this fight...and they have backed down.

What are the immediate implications? Unfortunately, not so much for Washington State's GLBT community. They still are without state-wide protections.

But, there are major implications. All of us were concerned by the message that Microsoft was sending when they screwed us. It had the potential for serious ramifications nationally. Given the political climate created by the gay-bashing theocrats, the private sector was, in many ways, the only safe harbor we had.

This whole experience sends a signal to other corporations. Don't try to fuck over the gays. If Microsoft had to back down, the rest of you don't stand a chance. Don't think that other corporations weren't watching to see how this played out.

And don't think elected officials weren't watching, too. Now, we have to use this same energy on elected officials.

Kudos are due to the Microsoft employees who took a stand to make their company do the right thing...again.

This episode shows once again the power of the blogs...the progressive blogs...YOU....

And, it shows once again the political skill of John Aravosis. (and I am not just saying that because he is my good friend and gives me the great privilege of writing on Americablog.) John got this immediately. He understood what it meant and, with your help, he kept it alive....and, helped push it in to the mainstream media.

Think about it. Microsoft, the corporate behemoth that doesn't take any crap from anyone, just had to publicly admit they screwed up. That doesn't happen every day.