Photo: Courtesy OkCupid.Will finding Mr. or Ms. Right mean switching your web browser? If OkCupid has its way, yes. The popular dating site has posted a message on its homepage encouraging Mozilla Firefox users to consider using different software. No, it's not over some technical glitch or site incompatibility. It all has to do with gay rights.
"Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples," the OkCupid statement charges. "We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid." That accusation reportedly stems from a $1,000 donation Eich made in favor of California's Proposition 8.
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"Politics is normally not the business of a website, and we all know there’s a lot more wrong with the world than misguided CEOs," the statement continues. "So, you might wonder why we’re asserting ourselves today. This is why: We’ve devoted the last ten years to bringing people — all people — together. If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly eight percent of the relationships we’ve worked so hard to bring about would be illegal. Equality for gay relationships is personally important to many of us here at OkCupid. But it’s professionally important to the entire company. OkCupid is for creating love. Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure."
Wow, right? Meanwhile, Mozilla Firefox is denying that it has an anti-gay agenda. "Mozilla supports equality for all, including marriage equality for LGBT couples," a company statement says. "No matter who you are or who you love, everyone deserves the same rights and to be treated equally. OkCupid never reached out to us to let us know of their intentions, nor to confirm facts."
If that is indeed true, then it seems that Mozilla's company values don't align with those that Eich is alleged to hold. A Mozilla board member has already resigned in protest over Eich's role as CEO, and we can only assume that OkCupid's bold stance will create more pressure for Eich to step down.
On the other hand, Chick-fil-A is doing steady business ("trouncing" sales at KFC) despite CEO Dan Cathy's statements against gay marriage in 2012. Will Mozilla (or, more importantly, Eich) buckle? Who knows? Either way, good for OkCupid for taking a stand and bringing this issue to our attention. (The Verge)