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Microsoft Abandons Gay Rights Bill

andrewagill writes "Microsoft has withdrawn support from a bill that would "protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in employment, housing, banking, insurance, and other matters by adding sexual orientation to a state law which already bars discrimination" of the other usual suspects. Odd, given their previous accolades from the GLBT community, and their prior public support for the bill."

24 of 2,304 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bad. by computerme · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    >Just because Microsoft changed their stance from pro to neutral (not against), this makes them bigoted?

    Well it certainly does not make them courageous...

    A trait we all should work towards having...

    Shame on microsoft.

  2. Let's be honest - you guys forced them into it. by mrRay720 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    That's right. With all of the "Bill Gates is the devil, M$ are teh EVIL" stuff they had to do something to show themselves as being more Godly.

    And any decent "All American Christian" will tell you that Gays and Lesbians are the work or Satan. MS have no choice but to be nasty to them to get you guys to like them again. THEY'RE DOING GOD'S WORK, PEOPLE!

    Look, if you don't start some serious Microsoft loving soon they're going to have to take it to the next Christian Godly level to convince you all. Don't come crying to me when Microsoft start bombing Arabs to further God's work.

    (For dim witted bible bashers out there, the above is what is known as "not really true")

  3. Well, of course by TuringTest · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    It's an action to undermine morale of Apple users.

    --
    Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
  4. which do I hate more????? by izzo+nizzo · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I would love to see radical christians boycott microsoft!!!!!!!
    Would they all get Macs and refer to the boycott as 'the greatest revelation in a thousand years', or would someone put out a linux disto catered to their obsession with God, or would they just stop updating their computers and get even crankier?
    yeah, the last one would suck. But that linux theory is a mind-job, isn't it?

  5. Grossly incorrect by megalomang · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Some religions require practices that one cannot avoid telling his employer.

    Examples:
    1) Strong Catholics may come to work on Ash Wednesday with a cross on their forehead. And will need to take some time off of work to observe Holy days
    2) Indian women may dress according to religious requirments or wear the dot on their forehead or not eat meat at business functions
    3) Orthodox Jewish will require Kosher meals at business functions and wear a yamika
    4) Some Muslims need to pray to Mecca various times during the day and wear traditional clothes and turbans

    On the gay side, there are no requirements. It is your choice if you want to take off of work to attend gay day at Disney world. It is your choice if you want to take a a week to go on the gay cruise with Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen Degenerates. It is your choice if you want to take time off to go to the million gay march.

    It is also your choice to speak without a lisp and keep your sexual preference to yourself, just like the heteros do.

  6. Re:Slight little difference. by JustNiz · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    wow.
    Because GOD says so isn't good enough for you?
    For all religious people its more than enough, and GOD is an ACTUAL reason.

  7. Re:How are gays discriminated against at work? by Warpedcow · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    The situation you describe is not "discrimination", it's "conforming to culture". If you don't like a company's culture, you can find another company to work for.

    If you feel you should not be punished for not conforming, well that is a valid complaint, but don't call it discrimination.

    --
    moo
  8. Re:Bad. by rtkluttz · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    It isn't bashing, it isn't homophobia, it isn't bigotry and "coming out" and saying something isn't wrong just because the current political climate (Political Correctness) says we shouldn't say something doesn't make it right. I am not the "Christian Right" and am simply Christian.

    Being gay is wrong. It says so in the Bible. Just because "your" views may differ doesn't mean that I am a bigot, homophobe, or anything else. It simply means that I am Christian.

    I am Christian and I am also quite often wrong as I would be if I were to steal something. I havn't discriminated by saying something is wrong. I am not uneducated because I have a view different than yours or because I have faith in God.

    I also am not posting this to be inflammatory or to provoke. So moderators.. use your mod points wisely. This is simply an alternative view that is shared by most Christians.

    --
    Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
  9. Re:Odd by sulli · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    On that basis, like most christians, I think discrimination against gays is a good thing.

    I'm a Christian and I think you're a fucking dickhead. Do you really think Jesus, who spent his life preaching the Good News to prostitutes and tax collectors, would have endorsed discrimination against anyone? Did the man who gave the Sermon on the Mount ever promote hateful behavior of any kind?

    Sure, Paul was a bigot. But he wasn't the Messiah.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  10. Re:How are gays discriminated against at work? by Warpedcow · · Score: 0, Flamebait


    THe law protects you from this "conformity", but the law does not protect you (and in some places punishes you) for being gay.



    I think that many people feel that the law should NOT protect someone for being gay. Just like the law does not protect someone for being a "murderer". And in many people's minds, those two things are equally morally reprehensible.
    --
    moo
  11. Finally by tbcpp · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Yeah! Finally Microsoft does somthing I actualy like. No this is not a troll, I just really have firmly beleive that so called "gay rights" are wrong. Sodomy should be outlawed.

    --
    Man is the lowest-cost, 150-pound, nonlinear, all-purpose computer system which can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.
    1. Re:Finally by tbcpp · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Yeah, I catch your drift. Let me be more blunt a physical relationship should be between one man and one woman under the "umbrella" of marriage, for life. No divorce, no extramarital relationships, no sex before marriage, and no "homosexuals". And I don't even like using that word because it implies that they can't help themselves (which is a lie)

      Want to know my view on marriage? Read Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy from the Bible.

      --
      Man is the lowest-cost, 150-pound, nonlinear, all-purpose computer system which can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.
    2. Re:Finally by tbcpp · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      At least their system is not un-ethical like many of our laws today...

      --
      Man is the lowest-cost, 150-pound, nonlinear, all-purpose computer system which can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.
  12. Gay Marriage by Botia · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Since most of the posts appear to be on gay marriage, let's discuss that. Gay marriage has been legal in the United States since this great country was founded. You are not descrimenated based on your sexual preference. A gay man and a gay woman are free to get married to each other just as a straight man and a straight woman can. A great fictional example would be on Friends when a straight man and a lesbian were married...perfectly legal.

  13. Re:Quote from Pastor Ken Hutcherson by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    People often talk about "Christians" as if they were all of one mind. That's as silly as saying "all Americans believe this" or "all black people think that". People interpret the bible and the teachings of respected elders differently, so it is very common for people who all believe they are following the teachings of Christ to have very different opinions on some matters. This is one of those matters.
    Then stop placing yourself in the same group as this guy. Stop calling yourself Christian. Call yourself Anglican, or a follower of Christ, but do everything you can to distance yourself from these types of people.

    Unless you really agree with him and merely find his methods distasteful?

  14. Re:What does he have on you, Bill? by zardo · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    You talk like it is a proven fact that people are born gay, like African American's are born black. You completely fly right over that and make these comparisons between the civil rights movement and whatever this is.

    You'll have to convince the majority with scientific proof that you were born gay and that you're not just another sexual deviant.

    That's not to say that you can't accomplish your goals with lawyers and judges collaborating to undermind majority rule, as is the case with affirmative action, which I'll remind you was never written into law.

    This bill will die. Perhaps that's why MS isn't supporting it any longer. Hey, where's Apple in all of this? Isn't Steve Jobs a big time liberal?

  15. Iraq??? by Sparcler · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I was wondering if this could have anything to do with Iraq? We know Bush is anti-gay and Microsoft is or was pro-gay. So Bush gets Microsoft to drop the pro-gay thing in exchange for some special right to selling software in Iraq as the Iraqi market begins to open up. I would like to know what other People think.

  16. Re:human right? by flyingsquid · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    What about the human right to employ whom I please?

    Well, let's turn that argument around. You say, "it's OK to fire people just because they're gay". You do a great job and don't bother anyone at work, but I'm your employer, and I feel that this is insensitive, insufficiently liberal and politically incorrect. Plus, I hear that you have been doing things in your off time which are causing the moral breakdown of Western Civilization- like voting Republican. So I fire your heartless conservative ass. Or maybe I'm at Microsoft and I hear you express support for open source software and feel that this is a menace which must be purged at all costs.

    Still want to argue that companies should be able to hire and fire for any reason whatsoever?

  17. Re:What does he have on you, Bill? by rho · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Congratulations, you invented a point nobody made and defeated it!

    Some call it masturbation, but I call it "strategeric thinking".

    --
    Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
  18. Re:*Democracy* at work by ifwm · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "Nobody's fighting for protections for pro-gay-marriage people, but for actual gays"

    You weren't reading the thread, or you're a retard.

    The ACLU does. I'm a member, so I know.

    More importantly, the ENTIRE POINT of the thread was minority "protections". That was ALL we talked about, and the context is crystal clear to anyone. Not gays, but MINORITY PROTECTIONS.

    Nice try though. You fucked up, got caught, and tried to sneak one by. Silly boy, just admit you blew it and we'll both laugh it off.

    Because you did fuck up. And we all saw it.

  19. Logic... by leonbrooks · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...is a neat tool for going wrong with confidence.

    Thank you for the QED, but also thank you for pointing out the inanity in the grandparent post. (-:

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  20. Re:this is crap by jjohnson · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    In your case, a bigot.

    In my experience, people who have qualify what they say with what it isn't, tend to be exactly what they're denying.

    Remember, you're the one who started all this with the strawman about gay employees wanting legal protection to be swishy in the office.

    --
    Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
  21. Re:What does he have on you, Bill? by qurk · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    OK, so when those Judges got together in 2000 and elected our President on party lines, they weren't activist judges then? Nope they were heros! :)

  22. Who gives a shit? by ksemlerK · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    What do I care if MS supports a bunch of faggots anyway? I could care less if they all just dropped off of the face of the earth to never return. Homosexuality goes against the very purpose of why mankind was created, (or evolved), with a penis and vagina anyhow. Given the natural course of events, if it is a "natual and genetic" occurance, the homosexual population will eventually die off anyway due to lack of procreation. If on the other hand, it is caused by environement or choice, then all of the arguments of the homosexual group will be proven invalid over a period of 20 years anyway. Genetic material cannot be recreated without procreation, but environmental circumstances can. We shall see in 20 years whom is correct. Homosexuality is in direct confilict with both the evolutionary and creationist theorys unless contaminants have been intoduced that create a non-benificial mutatation have been introduced to corrupt the DNA.

    Go ahead, mod me down. I could really give 2 shits less about whether this is PC or aggreant with the homosexual agenda anyway. Mod points have no relevance in real life anyhow, and clue to Sherlock: SLASHDOT IS NOT REAL LIFE, OR RELEVANT TO IT IN ANY MANENER!