Gay group wants award back from Microsoft

Microsoft shouldn't have waited to be asked, but returned it immediately after their show of moral cowardice.--Dictynna.

By Kim Peterson
Seattle Times technology reporter

Microsoft's public-relations troubles intensified yesterday as news spread that the company had withdrawn support for state legislation banning discrimination against gays and lesbians.

The legislation, House Bill 1515, was voted down Thursday by a single vote in the state Senate, prompting frustration and anger that continued to build yesterday among some gay-rights activists.

The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center asked Microsoft yesterday to return an award it gave the company in 2001, saying the company is no longer worthy of its highest corporate honor. The center had given Microsoft its "corporate vision award," which it bestows on one company every year.