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tristanrobin · 11-17-2007, 08:10 PM

Pastor Calls On Conservatives To Buy Microsoft Shares To Topple Gay Rights Rule by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: November 17, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Seattle, Washington) Gay rights foe Rev. Ken Hutcherson is calling on religious conservatives to buy stock in Microsoft so they can force a shareholders vote on the company's policy that provides equality for gay workers.
Hutcherson, whose megachurch is a stone's throw from Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, caused a stir at the company's recent annual meeting, demanding the world's biggest computer company abandon its LGBT worker policy.
Microsoft's directors urged shareholders to reject the attempt, and the issue failed to get enough support for a vote, but Hutcherson is undeterred.
Following the meeting he told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that he intends to keep lobbying and will urge Christian and Jewish conservatives to buy shares in the company so they can vote.
He also told the paper that Microsoft is only the first public company he intends to target.
"There are 256 Fortune 500 companies alone pouring millions upon millions of dollars into pushing the homosexual agenda," he told The Daily Telegraph.
"I consider myself a warrior for Christ. Microsoft don't scare me. I got God with me.
As for any comparison with LGBT rights and civil rights for African Americans, Hutcherson says there is none.
"How many homosexuals have you ever seen had to ride on the back of a bus? I haven't seen one. I know that many blacks have in the past.
"I've never seen an ex-black. Michael Jackson couldn't even achieve that. But I've seen ex-gays. We minister to them every day. We talk to them about how to get out of that sin."
Hutcherson has been battling Microsoft and the state of Washington over LGBT rights for two years.
When a gay rights bill was before the legislature in 2005 Hutcherson met with company executives and threatened a national boycott of the computer giant if it did not disavow itself from the gay rights bill.
Microsoft earlier had announced its support for the legislation saying it would help attract talented workers to the state.
Following Hutcherson's threat the company distanced itself from the bill and the measure lost by a single vote in the Senate (story) sparking outrage from Microsoft's LGBT workers and gay consumers around the world.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer then sent an email to employees claiming that the company had made a decision before the legislative session began that it should to narrow its focus on a shorter list of issues directly affecting the business. (story)
But, that explanation, in light of details of the meeting between Microsoft and Hutcherson, failed to appease LGBT advocates. Even an attempt by Microsoft chair Bill Gates to quiet opposition failed.
"Next time this one comes around, we'll see," Gates told the Seattle Times a few weeks later. "We certainly have a lot of employees who sent us mail. Next time it comes around that'll be a major factor for us to take into consideration."
When the storm showed no sign of abating Microsoft came full circle, announcing that it would once again support LGBT civil rights. (story)
The measure was reintroduced in 2006 and passed.
Hutcherson then began a petition drive to force a statewide vote on repealing the rights law but failed to get enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot.

This isn't, you notice, about gays marrying...it's about ALL gay rights.

Anybody else hear the rattle of cattle cars? I wonder how he feels about the nooses that have been hung in trees outside blacks homes? Does he realize those KKK'ers think they have God on their side, too?