Gay blogger Andrew Sullivan: I’m disgusted the gay community has forced Brendan Eich to quit Firefox
Andrew Sullivan says he’s appalled at the resignation of Firefox CEO Brendan Eich, who quit yesterday following a backlash over his appointment due to his previous financial support for anti-equal marriage campaigners.
Earlier this week Mr Eich vowed to remain in post, saying: “I’m the best person for the job”.
In a show of support for Mr Eich, author, editor and blogger Andrew Sullivan said “gay activists” had gone too far.
He wrote on The Dish: “The guy who had the gall to express his First Amendment rights and favour Prop 8 in California by donating $1,000 has just been scalped by some gay activists.”
Mr Sullivan continued: “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.”
It was revealed in 2012 that Mr Eich donated $1,000 (£605) in 2008 to the campaign supporting California’s Proposition 8, whilst he was Mozilla’s chief technology officer.
The Prop 8 law banned same-sex marriages in the state and was finally struck down by the US Supreme Court after years of legal battles in June 2013.
