Microsoft Corp, at foreont of rporate gay rights for s, unr fire om gay rights groups, policians and s own employe for whdrawg s support for Washgton State bill that would bar discrimatn on basis of sexual orientatn; Microsoft officials ny any nnectn between cisn not to endorse bill and threat by pastor of proment evangelil church state to anize natnal boytt of Microsoft products; bill, which has passed State Hoe, would extend protectns agast discrimatn employment, hog and other fields to gay men and lbians; has support of other high-tech pani; Microsoft officials say that bee Kg County, where pany is based, already has anti-discrimatn law broar than proposed state bill, cisn was ma to foc on other legislative matters (M)
Contents:
- WHY IS MY PUTER VERED GAY PRI FLAGS AND IMAG?
- MICROSOFT CAV ON GAY RIGHTS
- RENNTRE GRATUE GAY à PARIS, (75)
- MICROSOFT CEO SAYS COMPANY WILL SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS LEGISLATN
- MICROSOFT COM UNR FIRE FOR REVERSAL ON GAY RIGHTS BILL
WHY IS MY PUTER VERED GAY PRI FLAGS AND IMAG?
In a move that angered many of the pany's gay employe, the Microsoft Corporatn, publicly perceived as the vanguard stutn of the new enomy, has taken a major polil stand favor of age-old discrimatn. The Stranger has learned that last month the $37-billn Redmond-based software behemoth quietly whdrew s support for Hoe bill 1515, the anti-gay-discrimatn bill currently unr nsiratn by the Washgton State legislature, after beg prsured by the Evangelil Christian pastor of... * microsoft company gay *
In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out.
In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water, however, is out and proud.
MICROSOFT CAV ON GAY RIGHTS
The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.
The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.
RENNTRE GRATUE GAY à PARIS, (75)
For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.
MICROSOFT CEO SAYS COMPANY WILL SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS LEGISLATN
Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. In a move that angered many of the pany's gay employe, the Microsoft Corporatn, publicly perceived as the vanguard stutn of the new enomy, has taken a major polil stand favor of age-old discrimatn.
The Stranger has learned that last month the $37-billn Redmond-based software behemoth quietly whdrew s support for Hoe bill 1515, the anti-gay-discrimatn bill currently unr nsiratn by the Washgton State legislature, after beg prsured by the Evangelil Christian pastor of a suburban megachurch. The pastor, Ken Hutcherson of Antch Bible Church Redmond, met wh a senr Microsoft executive Febary and threatened to anize a natnal boytt of the pany's products if did not change s stance on the legislatn, acrdg to gay rights activists and a Microsoft employee who attend a subsequent April 4 meetg where Bradford L. Smh, Microsoft's senr vice print, general unsel, and rporate secretary, told a group of gay staffers about Hutcherson's threat.
Ed Murray, a gay Democrat reprentg Capol Hill and the prime sponsor of the bill, nfirmed that Smh also told him about the prsure om Hutcherson durg an awkward and at tim heated March 29 nference ll which they discsed the pany's cisn to end s active support for the bill.
MICROSOFT COM UNR FIRE FOR REVERSAL ON GAY RIGHTS BILL
At the April 4 meetg, Smh told members of GLEAM, the gay and lbian employe group at Microsoft, that the pany had swched s official stance to "ntral" on the bill, and took personal rponsibily for the cisn. About 50 gay employe attend the GLEAM meetg wh Smh. Some proponents of the legislatn exprsed shock and anger at the pany's cisn, characterizg as a pulatn to extreme social nservativ that appeared to n directly unter to the pany's ternal polici which strs diversy and are nsired gay-iendly; Microsoft, for stance, offers domtic-partner benefs.
" ♦♦♦ Hoe Bill 1515 would protect gays and lbians om discrimatn employment, hog, bankg, surance, and other matters by addg sexual orientatn to a state law which already bars discrimatn on the basis of race, relign, natnal orig, genr, maral stat, and mental or physil handip.