Below is the response from Microsoft regarding my letter which is also listed below.

Hello Clint,

This is Farrah of Microsoft.com Customer Support. I apologize for the delayed response.

Thank you for sharing your views with us. After considering views from all sides, Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, has articulated a clear policy that we will use to decide which issues will be the focus of our public policy activities. The company has thought carefully in developing these principles and has concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda. The company therefore will continue to support federal legislation that would extend existing law to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and will support legislation similar to HB 1515 should it come up in a future Washington State legislative session.

Steve’s mail can be found on Microsoft PressPass at:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/misc/05-06-05StevebPublicPolicy.asp .

Should you have other concerns, please feel free to write back.

Sincerely,

Farrah
Microsoft.com Customer Support



--- Original Message ---
From: Clint Thomson
To: Microsoft Partner Services
Sent: Thu Apr 21 14:02:56 PDT 2005

To whom it may concern:

I was very surprised by the change of direction from Microsoft on GLBT civil rights. Microsoft has removed support for House bill 1515, the anti-gay-discrimination bill currently under consideration by the Washington State legislature.

In response, our company will begin stocking and promoting competing server and productivity based software (Linux, Novel, Word Perfect, etc.) to all of our clients.

I do hope that you will change your stance on this and other issues. We are a loyal reseller and have been so for many years. We are also a Gay owned and operated company that provides services to GLBT and straight clients and businesses.

It is time to stand up against bigotry and hate. You have the power.

I am very ashamed of Microsoft and I hope that you are equally ashamed of yourselves.

Sincerely,
Clint Thomson
Celeratec Managed Services
Dallas, TX