As many on this blog know, I have long been a supporter of same-sex marriage and gay rights. However, I have qualms about a story this morning that Mozilla Chief Executive Brendan Eich has been forced to step down after a campaign by an online dating service. The campaign revealed that Eich had made a donated $1,000 in 2008 in support of California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state before it was struck down in the federal courts. The controversy raises again the tension between free speech and corporate identity.
On Monday, OkCupid sent a message to visitors suggesting that they use browsers such as Microsoft Corp’s Internet Explorer or Google Inc’s Chrome: “Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples. We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid.”
Eich, who invented JavaScript, apologized for causing “pain” and promised to promote equality for gay and lesbian individuals at Mozilla. However, the campaign continued to call for his ouster.
We previously discussed this issue in relation to the Chick-Fil-A controversy. In this case, Eich was targeted for a small donation to the campaign in 2008. Many people oppose same-sex marriage out of deeply held religious or political views. I do not agree with them but this remains a deep divide in our country.
Eich was exercising his free speech rights in a matter of great public debate. I happen to view many current laws as discriminatory. However, the Supreme Court has yet to rule that states cannot prohibit same-sex marriage and there is no indication that Eich would refuse to comply with such a ruling if it were handed down. Indeed, there is no allegation that Eich has been in any way discriminatory toward employees or associates based on sexual orientation.
However, Mozilla Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker indicated that, if anything, it took too long to can Eich: “We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry.”
That is what concerns me. Should companies now move quickly to can officials for religious or controversial personal views? There was a time when people would be fired for supporting gay rights. What about giving money to presidential candidates like Rick Santorum who oppose gay rights generally? Notably, President Obama’s Administration spent the first few years in office defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in court. Obama himself refused to endorse same-sex marriage for years in office 00 during the year period of this donation. To this day, the Obama Administration refuses to treat discrimination against homosexuals as the same a race for the purposes of constitutional interpretation. So why is Eich not allowed to hold such personal views in making donations?
I do not question the right of all citizens to launch such a boycott and to use their market power to influence corporate policy. Clearly, many people stopped going to Chick-Fil-A in such a protest. However, I have concerns over the basis for such a campaign when there is no evidence of political or personal views having any connection to the company. Indeed, the company appears a leader in non-discriminatory practices. Where do we draw the line in such cases? What about corporate executives below the CEO or contributions to political parties or candidates viewed initial to same-sex marriage?
Source: Yahoo
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2014/04/brendan_eich_quits_mozilla_let_s_purge_all_the_antigay_donors_to_prop_8.html
Purge the bigots?
This is not going to end well for homosexuals.
Here is the stuff on Hillary Clinton and her opposition to gay marriage. Why not go after her?
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/04/04/brandon-eich-and-hillary-clinton/
I dont think they were right to target the guy. Free speech works both ways.
I thik this is going to hurt homosexuals over the long run.
We will see how Mozilla does now, I imagine many people have already changed browsers.
It would be interesting to know how many people quit using Mozilla over this.
Bigotry comes in many forms. A perfect example is the vile comment above. If it is an attempt at humor, it falls flat on its face, but I am not reading it as humor. I am reading it as nothing more than an extension of the bile we heard spewing from the late unlamented Fred Phelps.
Charlton – you and I may not lament Fred Phelps, but others did.
I think one of the requirements to get into college should be video proof of at least one prior homosexual experience that includes the applicant performing oral sex on anyone of the same gender and in the case of men also anal sex both as the passive and active partner. If you don’t support this new proposal, you are nothing but a vile homophobic bigot.
bernard,
… Intent of keeping the meme alive?
bernard,
The trashed response above, answers your meme.
“Obama opposes proposed ban on gay marriage”
You CAN Google it…
Obama article from 2008 in trash.
Please fish out…
Paul
You keep pounding the point about President Obama’s FORMER position opposing gay marriage. Though there are several points that can be made but the only one that counts is that he changed his stance because he realized it was untenable legally, morally and on humanity grounds. He recognized that opposition is wrong and unjustifiable.
Samantha
It’s pretty simple. You’re wrong and nothing will make your position correct. Thanks for playing.
Max-1, there is no indication let alone proof that any homosexual employee of Mozilla were “forced out”.
It is perfectly possible to have a view that marriage should be between a man and a woman without also being a homophobe.
When the small donation was given, Obama was also against gay marriage. Do you question how many federal employees he fired when he became president?
“Tough crowd, I tell ya’, tough crowd. Take my wife, please.”
It’s a joke!
Nick,
“Gay marriage legal, but gay divorce illegal.”
This is the third time, possibly fourth, that I’ve read this statement of yours — which has always been offered as a singular phrase.
What does it mean? Can you expound on these seven words?
Gay marriage legal, but gay divorce illegal.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0405/Mozilla-s-Brendan-Eich-and-gay-marriage-Intolerance-over-tolerance-video
On being oppressed… homophobia
Lastly,
I sure hope there weren’t any LGBT employees or board members that were ‘forced out’ from Mr. Eich’s promotion of CEO.
I hope people are aware of the backroom discord that existed prior to Mr. Eich’s resignation. I wish people would stop framing it as teh gay witch hunt…
… Other people were ‘forced out’ as Mr. Turley frames it, too.
Three Mozilla Board Members Resign over Choice of New CEO
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/03/28/three-mozilla-board-members-resign-over-choice-of-new-ceo/
The OKcupid stunt was but a whitehead of the festering pimple…
Sort of OT…
Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory To Sell $2.2 Million Mansion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/05/atlanta-archbishop-mansion-_n_5097457.html
… ‘Forced out’ of his home?
The announcement will be a bridge to cross…
Annie,
I chalk it up to ‘EXPECTATIONS’ and the fear of not letting someone’s expectations down… Except when those expectations are too high or are out of reach or unobtainable, are such expectations even fair to make? We live in a confused society… where God, Guns, and the Bible dictate the terms.
Oh yes and there is talk of marriage, I wonder how the relatives will explain that one to the nieces and nephews. Or will they not attend? So stupid and pointless this discrimination, even to those we supposedly love.
Annie,
That’s what I was talking about. I didn’t want that life.
I didn’t want to be the man who desires someone other than my mate…
… Not a fair treatment of their feelings perpetrating a fraud like that.