You are still in the Closet in mid age? } Microsoft & Apple Issue statement of Support for Equal Marriage

 If you are easily offended you can skip the next paragraph part and go on to the story. It is an opinion, not news.

I’ve posted about this before, but I can’t help it. Every time Microsoft and Apple say they are supporting our community in basic civil and human rights against adversity,  I get that feeling of being glad Im still alive to be able to see this happen.  An assertion from the biggest that gay people are people. I know I am people and so most of the people I know, but there is a need for these super cool super big corporations (just like us gays) need to be out.  To be comfortable with that.  When corporations which are seen with great awe and respect,  upheld as super cool, as super big.. come out with what everyone knows, because is no secret but still it makes the road less bumpy for everyone. The more mature guy who’s been closeted out of fear of??? I guess rejection…but more important than the old guy is the younger guy, because he/she will make the world the way it will be.
 Adam Gonzalez for adamfoxie*

Software giant Microsoft has joined Apple in publicly backing same-sex marriage by voicing its support 

for two bills currently being considered in Washington state. 

The Redmond company issued a statement Thursday on its Official Microsoft Blog in support of two bills

 in the Washington state legislatures, Senate Bill 6239 and House Bill 2516. The move has Microsoft joining five other major corporations who have also publicly pledged support for the legislation: Vulcan, Nike, RealNetworks, Group Health Cooperative, and Concur.

 Brad Smith, Microsoft General Counsel and Executive Vice President, authored the blog post. In it he argued that Microsoft’s support of same-sex marriage was necessary because the company needs a “workforce that is as diverse as [its] customers.”

“Every day, the national and global economies are becoming more diverse. The lifeblood of a business is its ability to understand and connect with its customers. We’re no exception. Now more than ever, the most effective workforce is a diverse workforce,” Mr. Smith added. 

The executive also pointed out that this is not the first time that Microsoft has taken a stance in support of same-sex marriage. In 1993, Microsoft became the first Fortune 500 company to provide benefits to sam-sex couples.

Microsoft’s latest support for same-sex marriage joins Apple’s recent efforts on the subject. The Cupertino company publicly opposed California’s Proposition 8 ballot initiative in 2008, going so far as to donate $100,000 to the opposition campaign. While Proposition 8 initially passed, it has since been overturned, with that ruling affirmed by the Ninth Circuit in 2010.

Further, both companies participated in the “It Gets Better” campaign in 2011, which provided support to young people bullied for their sexual and gender orientation.

The Atlantic, in discussing Microsoft’s Thursday statement, provides a pertinent summation: “Discrimination is bad for tech businesses. This is true regardless which group of people discrimination targets. Companies can’t hire the best people, and the best people can’t do their best work. And in the end, everybody loses.”    

http://www.macobserver.com