On Microsoft and gay rights

There was apparently some confusion last week about whether or not Microsoft supported a bill in Washington that would protect gay rights there. CEO Steve Ballmer cleared the air in an e-mail to employees.

Then Robert Scoble, who is quickly moving beyond global blogging champion and into the realm of attention whoring, posted a response telling Ballmer that his response was half-assed. I totally disagree.

I have a number of gay friends and acquaintances. I've gone to bat as an advocate of these kinds of issues for years. I have the same personal position that I did ten years ago: Discrimination against homosexuals is not any better than racial or sex discrimination. That's basic human respect, and key to living in an increasingly smaller world.

However, Ballmer made the right choice. In a public company the size of Microsoft, you don't start picking battles on an issue that has already split the country down the middle (to say nothing of its employees, who likely follow a similar demographic). That's irresponsible to the shareholders. If you do something that could potentially put off half of your customers, you have no business running a company that size.

If I've learned anything since my college days, it's that you can create meaningful change by working the system, not just standing up in a crowd and pissing people off. While the latter can get you headlines and is exciting, in a lot of cases it just makes some people's position on a divisive issue that much more entrenched. There's a time and place. A wise leader knows the difference and can make the right decision sans chest thumping.

I've pushed my political views on my sites before, but those are businesses that affect only me. If I lose "customers," so what, I wasn't getting rich in the first place, and I have no one else to be held accountable too. That's a lot different than a company worth billions of dollars.

6 Comments

  • Very well said and it's refreshing to hear there are a few people that have similar thoughts (like mine). :) I just feel that a lot of people get caught up in this because they think it is a black and white issue. Really, there's almost never such a thing. I'm glad you posted what you thought about it. Better than I did (not posting about it at all). ;)

  • I don't think the problem people have is Microsoft HAVING a neutral position, rather Microsoft adopting a neutral position from a formerly pro position - that is a lot more powerful. This is especially toubling since there seems to be a strong 'coincidnce' around a senior Microsoft exec meeting a religious nut and MS taking this position. Also, this bill (which I assume you've read!) specifically related to employment rights - something I would thing Microsoft would have an interest in. Just as a thought excercise, how would you feel is MS decided to withdraw support from a bill supporting anti-discrimination legislation for people with a disability?

  • I find it hard to resolve your name-calling ("attention whoring") with your claim for "basic human respect"!

  • Ballmer definitely made the right choice.



    If Scoble (who is somehow comparing a large software development company today with Germany in the 1930's..... ?) feels that the issue should be supported, then he needs to print out a big sign, take a few days off, and go stand in front of some government buildings, not whine and make absurd comparisons about why Ballmer won't unfairly take every MS employee and turn them into a political weapon.



    And we're calling "the reverend figure" the extremist?

  • No, you're putting words in my mouth. You're smarter than that, so stop being stupid. Not a black and white issue.

  • Don't be a moron. Liberals and conservatives alike are guilty of it.

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