Just weeks after the announcement was made, newly named Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigned from his post amid impassioned outcries from the LGBT community and its allies. The controversy began when news spread that Eich had contributed money in 2008 to the California initiative attempting to ban same-sex marriage.
Eich's views on gay marriage motivated two Mozilla developers to boycott the company until something was done. Although Mozilla tried to brush the issue under the rug with a public statement emphasizing the company's support of marriage equality, others were not so convinced.
The online dating website OKCupid took a bold stand on the issue, urging users not to access their website through Mozilla software.
"OkCupid is for creating love," the message to Mozilla Firefox users said. "Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure."
The moral of Eich's story is not about the "gay mafia" suppressing freedom of speech or opinion, as political commentator and same-sex marriage supporter Bill Maher surprisingly said. Mozilla is a corporation that is built, supported and used by a global community with an incredible array of diversity. These are the people who made the most noise about Eich's appointment, and ultimately, these are the people who brought about his resignation. There is no room for exclusion in a community like that.