After two weeks of gay community outrage, public relations headaches and employee rancor, Microsoft has reinstated its support for a Washington state gay rights bill that it quietly bailed on last month.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer announced the company's renewed backing of the legislation in an e-mail to all U.S. employees on Friday.

"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.

"Microsoft will continue to join other leading companies in supporting federal legislation that would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, adding sexual orientation to the existing law that already covers race, sex, national origin, religion, age and disability," he wrote. "Obviously, the Washington state legislative session has concluded for this year, but if legislation similar to HB 1515 is introduced in future sessions, we will support it."

The announcement came two weeks after it was revealed that Microsoft had taken a neutral stance on gay rights legislation. Bill 1515, which would have banned discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment and insurance, died by a single vote in the state Senate last month.

Before reversing its position Friday, Microsoft brass tried to downplay its meetings with the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of a Redmond, Wash., church, who reportedly threatened a national boycott because of the company's support of the bill. The oft-repeated company line -- that Hutcherson had no influence, and that the company's neutral stance on the bill reflected its focus on fewer legislative priorities -- did not appease the LGBT community or employees.

In Friday's e-mail, Ballmer admitted that the company had made a mistake, though he did not mention the pastor, nor did he indicate who was behind the decision to go neutral on a bill the company had strongly supported for years.

LGBT leaders expressed relief and gratitude at the announcement.

"We are proud that Microsoft did the right thing and has come down squarely on the side of fairness for all employees," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "It is clear from Mr. Ballmer's statement that it is a business imperative to value a diverse workforce and support public policy that reinforces that principle."

"We congratulate Microsoft for changing their position," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task force. "For a corporation that size to do this so quickly is extremely admirable."

The withdrawal of support rankled many employees, gay and straight, who blasted the company for going weak on its long-held commitment to LGBT equality. Internal dissent reached a peak earlier this week when a leader of Microsoft's gay and lesbian group, GLEAM, announced his resignation from the company.

In his resignation letter, Jeff Koertzen, an operations program manager and the secretary-treasurer of GLEAM, blasted Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president and general counsel, for not being honest about the company's position on the bill.

Koertzen told the PlanetOut Network that he was elated by Ballmer's e-mail, but that he still plans to leave the company, he said, "to pursue opportunities to unite my passions of technology and LGBT rights."

Koertzen said Ballmer's e-mail was a direct response from a GLEAM letter sent last week. "We demanded that, first, Ballmer must support anti-discrimination legislation anywhere in the country -- not just 1515, and not just LGBT legislation. Second, we requested that he emphatically reaffirm diversity as the company's core value. Third, we wanted him to acknowledge that their reversal on 1515 was a mistake, and finally, tell employees. With the e-mail he did this all within our one-week deadline."

"I hope this has been a real education process for Microsoft," said Jim Key, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (LAGLC). "They heard from shareholders, employees and customers and understood that diversity and equality are important not only in their workplace but in their legislative agenda."

The LAGLC, which had demanded that Microsoft return a corporate vision award for its forward-looking approach to LGBT issues, rescinded that demand Friday. "We once again believe they are worthy of the award," Key said.

Although the bill has no effect outside Washington state, Microsoft's renewed commitment to it will be heard throughout corporate America, according to Foreman.

"This decision is very important to our community because so many companies look to Microsoft for leadership," he said. "If they had not reversed, it would make our work much more difficult."

by Larry Buhl
PlanetOut Network