Tech giants and consumer companies can howl and protest whichever way they want, but it is clear that people in Mississippi will not buckle to their demands. Majority in the state where in unanimous support to the law on religious freedom that was signed Gov. Phil Bryant (R) and they are confident to the win against the subtle push back from Silicon Valley companies.
Apple, the NFL and Coca-Cola were part of a broad coalition of companies whose protest of a religious freedom bill in Georgia led to its veto, but in Mississippi, they hardly mattered.
Unlike the other States, things weren't as testy in Mississippi, where there are no Fortune 500 company headquarters and scant technology employment, perhaps making it less susceptible to major corporations applying economic pressure. The state's two major industries continue to be agriculture and manufacturing.
Through Wednesday (6 April) afternoon, IBM, AT&T, Salesforce.com and Cisco Systems issued statements in opposition. "IBM is disappointed that Governor Bryant has signed H.B. 1523 into law," IBMPolicy tweeted on 5 April. "Laws of this kind do not reflect IBM's values, and are bad for our employees and our business."
Then came a few hours, when Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise joined the ranks of the opposition.
Still, there incessant whining are going nowhere because whatever they do with their miserable lives, these tech companies has minimal financial impact to the State. This could be the reason why the governor is steadfastly behind the law.
"There's no fame or publicity that comes from opposing (North Carolina and Mississippi) since they won't reverse," says Esteban Kolsky, founder of tech consultancy think.Jar, "Any politician worth its salt, knows to get behind winning proposals. CEOs know the same."
Mississippi offers a slight detour from what has been a familiar narrative for nearly a year. The new controversial laws, and subsequent protests, emerged after a U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer that effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide
Tech's forceful political voice began to emerge last year in Indiana, when Apple CEO Tim Cook, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and others strongly objected to a law decried as legalizing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The law has since been clarified.
In Mississippi, it is a different matter altogether. Nobody will give a rat's ass what those tech companies will do. They don't want special treatment be given to the mentally challenge group and they get what they wanted.
Apple, the NFL and Coca-Cola were part of a broad coalition of companies whose protest of a religious freedom bill in Georgia led to its veto, but in Mississippi, they hardly mattered.
Unlike the other States, things weren't as testy in Mississippi, where there are no Fortune 500 company headquarters and scant technology employment, perhaps making it less susceptible to major corporations applying economic pressure. The state's two major industries continue to be agriculture and manufacturing.
Through Wednesday (6 April) afternoon, IBM, AT&T, Salesforce.com and Cisco Systems issued statements in opposition. "IBM is disappointed that Governor Bryant has signed H.B. 1523 into law," IBMPolicy tweeted on 5 April. "Laws of this kind do not reflect IBM's values, and are bad for our employees and our business."
Then came a few hours, when Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise joined the ranks of the opposition.
Still, there incessant whining are going nowhere because whatever they do with their miserable lives, these tech companies has minimal financial impact to the State. This could be the reason why the governor is steadfastly behind the law.
"There's no fame or publicity that comes from opposing (North Carolina and Mississippi) since they won't reverse," says Esteban Kolsky, founder of tech consultancy think.Jar, "Any politician worth its salt, knows to get behind winning proposals. CEOs know the same."
Mississippi offers a slight detour from what has been a familiar narrative for nearly a year. The new controversial laws, and subsequent protests, emerged after a U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer that effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide
Tech's forceful political voice began to emerge last year in Indiana, when Apple CEO Tim Cook, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and others strongly objected to a law decried as legalizing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The law has since been clarified.
In Mississippi, it is a different matter altogether. Nobody will give a rat's ass what those tech companies will do. They don't want special treatment be given to the mentally challenge group and they get what they wanted.