In March 2012, J. Paul Reed mentioned in a blog post that Brendan Eich -- at the time, CTO of Mozilla -- had donated to support California Proposition 8 in 2008:
... in 2008, when the California constitutional amendment involving the issue, Proposition 8, was on the ballot, a number of companies, including Apple, Google, and “numerous biotech companies“ all very publicly stated their official position against the proposition.
Mozilla Corporation abdicated taking a position.
It’s an open “secret” that Mozilla Foundation board member and Corporation CTO Brendan Eich donated money to support the proposition.
After some discussion online, Eich responded with a blog post in which he focused on criticizing the tone of those who expressed dismay and anger at his support of discrimination:
There is no point in talking with the people who are baiting, ranting, and hurling four-letter abuse. Personal hatred conveyed through curse words is neither rational nor charitable, and strong feelings on any side of an issue do not justify it.
Eich attempted to seize the moral high ground by shifting the focus from his support of discriminatory legislation to his critics' use of "curse words". Ultimately, this attempt at tone policing was unsuccessful; when he was appointed as CEO of Mozilla two years later, public outcry was so strong that he resigned ten days later.
In addition, conversations in March 2014 immediately after Eich's appointment of CEO revealed that Eich had a long history of support for right-wing extremists, including white supremacists Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan.
References
- "Killing the Messenger at Mozilla", Tim Chevalier for Model View Culture
- Mozilla CEO insists he won't resign over 'private' support for gay marriage ban, James Ball for the Guardian
- A reminder that the Prop 8 campaign Brendan Eich supported was odious, Michael Hiltzik for the LA Times