5 days after Microsoft voices support, Washington gets the votes to legalize same-sex marriage

How Microsoft's undeniable economic sway in the state helped make it easier for Washington politicians to legalize same-sex marriage.

Washington's state senate has gathered enough support to make it the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage, after senator Mary Margaret Haugen announced on Monday she will cast the 25th and deciding vote in favor of the controversial bill.

This comes just five days after Microsoft issued a public statement announcing that it was joining the group of Washington-based companies that had publicly endorsed the bill. Considering Microsoft is the second-largest employer in the state, one which is also home to such companies as Amazon, Starbucks and Nordstrom, it’s safe to assume that the company’s support of any legislation that it claims will impact its workforce will carry strong influence.

Of Microsoft’s nearly 92,000 global employees, almost half are located in the state of Washington. Microsoft’s 40,000 total base of employees in the eastside region of Seattle is equal to about 74 percent of the entire population of Redmond alone, which was pegged at 54,144 in the 2010 census.

Amid all the changes the company has encountered in the 26 years since it established its headquarters in Redmond, one of the few constants has been its home. Therefore, when Microsoft relates a piece of state legislation to its own economic well-being, people listen.

“As other states recognize marriage equality, Washington’s employers are at a disadvantage if we cannot offer a similar, inclusive environment to our talented employees, our top recruits and their families,” Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs wrote in a recent company blog post. “Employers in the technology sector face an unprecedented national and global competition for top talent. Despite progress made in recent years with domestic partnership rights, same-sex couples in Washington still hold a different status from their neighbors. Marriage equality in Washington would put employers here on an equal footing with employers in the six other states that already recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples – Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. This in turn will help us continue to compete for talent.”

Of course, support from Microsoft and its corporate cohorts in the initiative, which includes Nike, Concur and RealNetworks, was clearly not the only reason the bill has reached this point. Likewise, it was hardly the first time Microsoft has acted in support of the LGBT community. Its support goes back some 19 years, when it became the first Fortune 500 company to provide employees same-sex domestic partnership benefits.

But what should be noted here is Microsoft’s effort at bringing legitimate objective analysis to an issue that is steeped in controversy, subjective opinion and religious fervor. By pointing to its workforce, which is a substantial factor in both state employment and tax revenue, Microsoft made same-sex marriage not one of subjective morality, but one of economics. When a key contributor to the state economy makes that kind of a claim, it suddenly becomes much easier for state politicians to step up and vote in favor. This way, these politicians aren’t choosing a side on a divisive morality issue. They’re acting to help improve the state economy.

Of course, there were other forces at work here. But with this kind of a result, no one can deny that Microsoft played a role in what will go down as a historic moment in the state it’s called home for a quarter century.

Colin Neagle covers Microsoft security and network management for Network World. Keep up with his blog: Rated Critical, follow him on Twitter: @ntwrkwrldneagle. Colin’s email is cneagle@nww.com.

• Corporate Issues
• Personnel
• Microsoft
• Redmond
• same-sex marriage
• Washington