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Published On: Mon, Apr 7th, 2014

Mozilla under attack for ‘firing’ CEO Brenden Eich for not supporting gay marriage

The forced resignation of Mozilla’s CEO over his views on gay marriage has sparked a passionate debate with comparisons to ‘fascism’ and ‘intimidation.’

photo Josh Janssen via Flickr

photo Josh Janssen via Flickr

Brenden Eich was pushed out of the company that makes the Firefox browser after a week in the top job because he contributed $1,000 to California’s Prop 8 back in 2008. He has not spoken of gays in disparaging terms or made his workplace unfriendly to gays.

“If you’re a young faculty member, in a lot of places, if you’re a young member of a news department, and you have the wrong views, meaning conservative, you have no career,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said on “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” Sunday morning.

“This is just the most open, blatant example of the new fascism, which says if you don’t agree with us 100%, we have the right to punish you, unless you’re like Hillary [Clinton] and Barack Obama, and you recant.”

The issue has been hot in the news cycle. “Real Time” host Bill Maher referenced on his most recent broadcast the power of what he called the “gay mafia“.

“Where would you draw the line?” ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Gingrich. “What if he came out against interracial marriage?”

“I think the question is do you want to live in an open and tolerant society, or do you want impose your views at the cost of people’s jobs?” Gingrich replied.

From gay blogger Andrew Sullivan: “Will he now be forced to walk through the streets in shame? Why not the stocks? The whole episode disgusts me – as it should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society. If this is the gay rights movement today – hounding our opponents with a fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else – then count me out. If we are about intimidating the free speech of others, we are no better than the anti-gay bullies who came before us.”

Here’s Americablog’s John Aravosis to detailed the reason the penalty is just:

“Normally, I wouldn’t really care how a corporate CEO felt about marriage equality.  Don’t get me wrong, I care.  And I’d laud a CEO if she came out in support of it.  But I don’t think I’d launch a campaign against a company simply because its boss wasn’t quite there yet on marriage. I know lots of people who aren’t there yet – though that audience is slimming down fast.

“But Brendan Eich wasn’t simply ‘not there yet’ – he played an active role in creating and enforcing discrimination against millions of gay Californians.  So his offense was pretty severe, and it went arguably beyond ‘speech’ – he joined the ranks of anti-gay activist.

“But does that mean he can’t be CEO of a company?

“Well.  I think once you reach the level of CEO in a visibly-named company, there’s greater internal sensitivity to anything in your life that could harm the business.”

 

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About the Author

- Catherine "Kaye" Wonderhouse, a proud descendant of the Wunderhaus family is the Colorado Correspondent who will add more coverage, interviews and reports from this midwest area.

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  1. Focus on the Family doc ‘Irreplaceable’ promotes traditional marriage as God’s design - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] RELEASE: Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich was ousted because he supports natural marriage: Some believe this is social bullying, pure and simple. Is it not reasonable for those who support […]

  2. Homophobes Drop Mozilla's Firefox in Protest – Advocate.com | dailynewscafe.net says:

    […] ouster as CEO as proof that the progressive company is intolerant. BY Sunnivie …Modzilla under attack for 'firing' CEO Brenden Eich for not supporting gay marriageThe Global DispatchNewt Gingrich blames Mozilla's CEO troubles on 'new fascism'Metro […]

  3. Homophobes Drop Mozilla's Firefox in Protest – Advocate.com | Singaporenewsjournal.com says:

    […] ouster as CEO as proof that the progressive company is intolerant. BY Sunnivie …Modzilla under attack for 'firing' CEO Brenden Eich for not supporting gay marriageThe Global DispatchNewt Gingrich blames Mozilla's CEO troubles on 'new fascism'Metro […]

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