TECH WORLD IN TIZZ OVER ANTI GAY MARRIAGE CEO

The new CEO of Mozilla, which produces the Firefox web browser, is under growing pressure to resign over his anti-gay views.

Brendan Eich is facing a fire storm in the tech world over revelations that in 2008 he donated $1,000 towards the campaign to outlaw same-sex marriage in California.

A number of developers have since announced their boycott of the non-profit company’s projects as a result and several Mozilla employees tweeted their disdain for their new boss’ stance, calling on him to step down.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that three board members had resigned in protest against Eich’s appointment, although it’s not clear if this was related to the donation.

In the latest development, the OkCupid.com dating site messaged users of Firefox when they visited the site, recommending that they stop using the browser.

The message read: “Hello there, Mozilla Firefox user. Pardon this interruption of your OkCupid experience. Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples. We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid.

“We’ve devoted the last ten years to bringing people—all people—together. If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8% of the relationships we’ve worked so hard to bring about would be illegal,” said the site.

OkCupid.com also posted links to download alternative web browsers.

In a statement, Mozilla responded that, “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.”

Eich has attempted to address the furore, expressing his “sorrow at having caused pain” and has insisted that he and Mozilla support equal rights for LGBT people, but has not said that he now personally supports marriage equality.

“I am committed to ensuring that Mozilla is, and will remain, a place that includes and supports everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, economic status, or religion,” he wrote on his blog.

On Saturday, the company posted another statement saying that “Mozilla supports equality for all, including marriage equality for LGBT couples.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Firefox is the world’s second-most-popular web browser on personal computers, with 18% market share.