Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich steps down after homosexual backlash over his support of marriage
The embattled CEO of Mozilla, the company that produces the Firefox internet browser, has stepped down after homosexual activists created a national backlash over his support for marriage.
Brendan Eich bowed out as leader of the tech company after just days on the job, after LGBT activists discovered that he had donated $1,000 to California's Proposition 8. The state constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman passed the deeply liberal state in 2008 with more than seven million votes.
It was struck down on procedural grounds when the state's Democratic leaders refused to defend it in court, and the Supreme Court ruled that the voters had no standing to defend the ballot initiative themselves.
Eich, who developed Javascript, donated $1,000 to Republican presidential contender Pat Buchanan in 1991-2.
He was also a member of the Ron Paul revolution, giving $2,500 to the libertarian-leaning Congressman in his 1996 and 1998 congressional races.
Both have been outspoken supporters of traditional marriage.
Homosexual activists flooded the company with calls for Eich's ouster, and the dating website OKCupid encouraged people not to use Mozilla's Firefox in retaliation.
“Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it,” the company's Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker, said in a blog post announcing his departure. “We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.”
“It’s clear that Brendan cannot lead Mozilla in this setting,” Baker told the media.
She also said, “This is Brendan’s decision.”
The road ahead will be difficult for any CEO. Before Eich became CEO, Firefox lost its position as the second most used internet browser to Google Chrome.
