News
2006-01-26
Pastor urges
followers to "dump stock" of pro-gay companies
A Washington
State pastor who threatened a national boycott against
Microsoft and other major corporations for endorsing a st
A Washington
State pastor who threatened a national boycott against
Microsoft and other major corporations for endorsing a state
gay rights bill urged supporters Tuesday to buy up the
companies' stock and then dump it to drive prices
down. The Reverend Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch
Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, said the
stock-dumping plan had been part of his strategy all along.
"You got to find
out how you affect a company," Hutcherson said,
conceding that it would be hard to get people to shun
products from companies that dominate the marketplace
as Microsoft and Boeing do. He wants supporters to buy
one or two shares over the next few months, then sell
them May 1.
Companies
including Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., Hewlett-Packard Co.,
and Nike Inc. signed a letter earlier this month
urging passage of the gay rights measure, which would
add sexual orientation to a list of characteristics
covered by a state law that already bans discrimination
based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, and
marital status. Hewlett-Packard and Boeing released
statements Tuesday reaffirming their support for the
measure.
Experts said the
pastor's plan has no chance of hurting the stock price
of a company such as Microsoft. Hans Olsen, chief investment
officer at Bingham Legg Advisers, said few investors
would gamble their money on a political statement,
especially large investors, such as those who hold
major blocks of shares in mutual funds. "The big guys, they
won't touch that with somebody's else 10-foot pole,
let alone their own," Olsen said.
A Washington
State senate committee approved the bill Tuesday, meaning it
could come to a vote on the senate floor by the end of the
week. The house passed it last week. Microsoft's
endorsement of the bill comes a year after the company
was denounced for quietly dropping its support.
Hutcherson was at the middle of the Microsoft controversy
last year, claiming he pressured the company into
withdrawing its support by threatening a boycott. The
company, under fire from gay activists across the
country, insisted it had decided to take a neutral stance to
focus on other issues. (AP)
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