Earlier this month, Microsoft general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs Brad Smith took to the company's official blog with a post titled "Marriage Equality in Washington State Would Be Good for Business,"in which he outlined the business case for the company's support of same-sex marriage legislation in Washington, where Microsoft is based.
His core argument centers on the idea that in order "to be successful, it's critical that we have a workforce that is as diverse as our customers. . . There simply is no substitute for their diverse backgrounds, perspectives, skills, and experiences. Inclusiveness is therefore a fundamental part of our values, and is integral to the company's business success."
Smith says that the Redmond-based tech giant—along with Concur, Group Health, Nike, RealNetworks, and Vulcan Inc.—are throwing support behind billSV 6239 in the Washington State Senate and HB 2516 in the House because:
As other states recognize marriage equality, Washington's employers are at a disadvantage if we cannot offer a similar, inclusive environment to our talented employees, our top recruits, and their families. Employers in the technology sector face an unprecedented national and global competition for top talent. . . Marriage equality in Washington would put employers here on an equal footing with employers in the six other states that already recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples—Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. This in turn will help us continue to compete for talent.
Writing for The Seattle Times, Janet I. Tiu points out that this is not a new position for the company:
Microsoft made a similar argument when it joined some 70 corporations in supporting a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
Microsoft has been involved in other gay rights issues before, as in 2005, when a bill banning discrimination against gays and lesbians failed by a single vote in the state Senate and Microsoft's lack of support for the bill was criticized, and last year when it and other tech companies were put in the middle of an e-commerce culture war.
But while Microsoft may be reiterating a long-held position, the timing of this most recent announcement in a business-focused election year, along with the presence of a larger corporate coalition joining in the call for marriage equality, may have a bigger impact. As Carly Rothman writes in New Jersey's The Star-Ledger:
New Jersey businesses, take heed. The six states that allow gay marriage are New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Iowa—all of which are a heck of a lot closer to New Jersey than to Washington State. If a top company like Microsoft is worried about losing talent to any of those states, then New Jersey business have even more reason to be afraid.
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