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| Rev. Ken Hutcherson will be announcing on Thursday a boycott of corporations which support a Washington state gay rights bill. | |
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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)
Jan 17 2006, 9:48 AM |
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A pastor yesterday called for a national boycott of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and other companies that support a gay-civilrights bill, saying the corporations have underestimated the power of religious consumers.
-IMG-Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, said he will formally call for the boycott Thursday on the radio show Focus on the Family.
"We’re tired of sitting around thinking that morals can be ignored in our country," he said. "This is not a threat, this is a promise."
Last week, several companies, including Boeing Co., Hewlett Packard Co., Microsoft Corp. and Nike Inc. signed a letter urging passage of the measure, which would add sexual orientation to a state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital status and other factors.
Microsoft is restoring its support for the proposal a year after the company was denounced for quietly dropping its endorsement.
Hutcherson, who has organized antigay-marriage rallies in Seattle and Washington, D.C., says he pressured Microsoft into dropping its support for the bill last year by threatening a boycott.
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