Dating site OkCupid on Monday called on
users to dump Mozilla's popular Firefox Web browser in response to
the appointment of a new CEO who supported Proposition 8,
California's 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment restricting
marriage to heterosexual couples. Proposition 8 stood until last
year, when the Supreme Court left in place a lower court ruling
knocking it down.
Mozilla co-founder and Javascript
creator Brendan Eich was named Mozilla CEO on March 24.
Eich's ascent prompted a backlash over
his $1,000 donation to the campaign to approve Proposition 8.
Multiple employees publicly asked Eich
to step down and at least one developer has said it will no longer
develop apps for the browser.
According to the Wall
Street Journal blog, three of the Mozilla Foundation's six
board members have quit over the decision.
OkCupid users accessing the site via
Firefox were greeted Monday with the following message: “Hello
there, Mozilla Firefox user. Pardon this interruption of your
OkCupid experience. 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.”
OkCupid President Christian Rudder told
the AP that 8 percent of the site's users are gay or lesbian and
that approximately 3 billion monthly page views come through Firefox.
In a blog post, Eich said he wanted to
express his “sorrow at having caused pain.” And over the
weekend, Mozilla reiterated its support for marriage equality.
(Related: After
naming Prop 8 backer as CEO, Mozilla says it supports gay marriage.)