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Steve Ballmer wrote us all a note this afternoon about the anti-discrimination bill. I wish he'd post this publicly.

It helped clarify a whole raft of issues for me.

If someone over in PR could give me permission, I'll be happy to post the entire letter.

Added by WebProNews Editor ... Excerpt of Seattle Post article:

Microsoft and gay rights

The Stranger alternative weekly in Seattle reported in a cover story this week that Microsoft withdrew its support for the anti-discrimination bill after an evangelical minister in Redmond threatened to organize a national boycott of the company's products.

The New York Times reported further on the issue this morning: Microsoft comes under fire for reversal on gay rights bill.

Microsoft says its decision to change its position on the bill to neutral was made long before the meeting, as it tried to narrow the range of issues it would focus on during the current state legislative session. Microsoft spokeswoman Tami Begasse said the decision was made long before meeting with the pastor and was "not influenced at all by external factors." She added that Microsoft was one of the first companies to offer benefits to same-sex domestic partners and include sexual orientation in its corporate non-discrimination policy.

Robert Scoble is the founder of the Scobleizer blog. He works as PodTech.net's Vice President of Media Development. Go to Scobleizer ...