Posted on 03/25/2014 1:23:18 PM PDT by markomalley
A pair of gay developers have launched a boycott of Firefox in protest against the Mozilla Foundation's decision to appoint a CEO who appears to be an opponent of same sex marriage. Mozilla co-founder and Javascript creator Brendan Eich was awarded the top job yesterday.
Hampton Catlin, creator of Wikipedia Mobile and CSS extension language Sass, said he would no longer develop apps for Firefox after Eich's appointment.
The dev cited a six-year-old database of donor contributions to campaigns in support and opposition of Proposition 8 listing Brendan Eich, (Employer: Mozilla) as a $1,000 contributor to a campaign in support of the anti-gay marriage California ballot proposition.
Prop 8 was struck down after being ruled unconstitutional in 2010 and the final appeal was put to bed in June last year.
Catlin and his husband run a development firm called Rarebit which makes a game called Color Puzzle and was set to bring a dictionary app to Firefox Marketplace.
In a blog post, Catlin wrote: "As a married gay couple who are co-founders of this venture, we have chosen to boycott all Mozilla projects. We will not develop apps or test styles on Firefox any more.
"This is in protest of the appointment of Brendan Eich to the position of CEO of the Mozilla Foundation, where he had previously served as CTO. We will continue our boycott until Brendan Eich is completely removed from any day to day activities at Mozilla, which we believe is extremely unlikely after all he’s survived and the continued support he has received from Mozilla.”
Catlin and his British husband Michael were unable to get married in California until recently.
The pair always dreamed of starting a company together, but Michael's visa was tied to his employment status. As it was not possible to marry, they were unable to found a new firm.
When the Supreme Court repealed Proposition 8, the lovers immediately rushed to San Francisco City Hall to get married. A post-nuptials picture of them was then published on the front page of the New York Times.
“Today, Michael has a green card and we’re able to pursue this venture in the US,” said Catlin. “These days, I am so damn proud of my country for making this all possible. So, that’s why it’s personal for us. Brendan Eich was an active supporter of denying our right to be married and even to start this business."
We have contacted Mozilla to ask them for a statement on their position regarding Eich's contribution, but there has been no response. We'll update this article if we hear back.
Eich himself blogged about the controversy over his donation last year on his website, maintaining that "Mozilla had nothing to do with the donation" and "Donors above a certain amount are required by the State of California to disclose their employer". ®
There are very good reasons as to why Homosexuality was once labeled a Mental Disorder.
This is a good example.
Hopefully the new CEO will keep them from falling further into oblivion. I remember when Firefox was performant and didn’t need to look like every other browser out there.
It - just - worked.
If they keep changing stuff for the hell of it (because 1 jackass thinks it’s a bright idea, counter-arguments be damned) I’ll dump it regardless of whatever the article’s subjects are complaining about. Next browser will probably be one I write so I don’t have to play this game anymore.
Same here.
More gay witch hunts against someone who opposes gay marriage/ Just because you donate to the traditional marriage side in a referndum
Good enough. Peace to you.
I am befuddled. They want to boycott Firefox because the CEO is anti-gay marriage, but yet they want a baker with the same views to be forced to bake a cake for them.
If these rooster suckers don't repent of their sins they WILL go to hell. May God bless them with the grace of repentance and conversion. Soon.
Liberals: The most intolerant, mean-spirited, hate-filled, violent, gross sickos ever. They really think sticking their body parts into the feces of other people is a good thing to be celebrated
Bookmark
Queers: "We are the 3.5%."
Posting on FreeRepublic on my Mozilla Firefox browser.
You know, I never gave a thought to whether the inventor of a software package or the CEO of a high-tech company was gay or straight — until now.
Really? That's equine excrement, right there.
It is open source. They can change the default color and re-release it as GayFox if they like
Best news I've heard all day.
I don't use Mozilla, but I can't help thinking it will be healthier and more attractive to try one day with the total absence of pervert drama queens...
I heard they want to change it to “FireIsland”. /s
Maybe Folsom Festival browser
Because the pro-sodomy mafia wields power way out of proportion to its tiny segment of society.
Me?
I actively push back at every opportunity.
I can deal with "don't ask-don't tell.
But I refuse to be treated as a second-class citizen by the pro-sodomy mafia and their government enablers.
It's that simple.
Yeah, boycotting free stuff is a brilliant idea!! /s
Firefox rules!
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