A big element is that the creative class is virulently anti-discriminatory. It should be the concern of Chambers of Commerce all over Virginia that all the discriminatory legislation being passed in Richmond, including a constitutional amendments against gay marriage, will be a very serious economic drag on Virginia, because the people that we’re trying to get in here to be employed in these high-tech industries don’t want to work in environments shaped by an atmosphere of discrimination. They want to take people at face value who can do the job. That’s what they want. You saw the recent decision of Microsoft was reversed under pressure from the many employees of Microsoft who said, ‘We don’t want to work in a business where discrimination and outdated attitudes, and so forth, prevail.’
So, increasingly, that’s an issue for the business community, for Chambers of Commerce, and we have that in our newspaper as a conscious attempt to create an ally of the creative class. You’ll see that reflected in columns and articles that address wider issues in the pages of the Falls Church News-Press. So just so you know that there’s a method to our madness. I not only think it’s the right thing to do, but it’s good marketing, and I would suggest that idea extend to you as well.
–Falls Church News-Press owner Nicholas F. Benton, commenting on the Virginia legislature’s growing reputation for intolerance