On the other hand, a non-trivial portion of the population, particularly the next generation, see opposition to gay marriage as morally repugnant, the way most people now view anti-miscegenation laws.
I don't think this is going to go away. Mozilla will continue to suffer a minor but significant attrition of mindshare over this issue as long as he remains at the helm, regardless of his merits as a leader or as a human being.
But I'm also I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of someone emotionally closer to the situation than myself. I'm a black guy in an interracial relationship. It's tough to say how I'd feel if Brendan Eich had donated to an anti-miscegenation campaign. I'd probably feel pretty shitty about it. But I don't think I'd stop using Firefox on that basis alone.
Maybe it's because you are not LGBT? Given that you're black, would you stop using Firefox if he had donated to the KKK?
OKCupid founder Christian Rudder essentially said that they made the decision in a hurry, in the span of about 36 hours, and had no concrete plan about what they would do next.
In fact, when Gizmodo asked him what outcome he expected, he said, "I don't have a good answer for you."
Let's step aside, for a minute, from the divisive social issue that inspired the stunt, and consider what this says about OKCupid's ability to make business decisions.
If I'm IAC, OKCupid's owner[2], should I really have confidence in Rudder and other OKCupid decision-makers if this is the way they make far-reaching, very public business decisions?
"Hey, let's slap something together and see what happens!"
I think that it is possible for a business to make a bold stand on social issues, even if it means calling out another business for its conduct. But if you're going to do it, you'd better have thought it out well and have a game plan.
OKCupid did not ... and that says a lot about the people in charge there.
[1] http://gizmodo.com/why-okcupid-took-a-stand-against-mozillas...
That isn't the sort of thing you can come out and say in a gizmodo interview.
As a CEO, you have the right to support slavery. As a worker, you have the right to quit in response to those views.
Ok, suppose a new guy comes along, he could have donated a million dollars to ... I don't know .. an even worse cause. How would you know?
That's why we have laws and protections against each other's opinions (however imperfect they may be).
