# Mozilla CEO pays the price for not being in favor of gay marriage **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359 "2014-04-04T18:03:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/221 "2014-04-09T10:47:31Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Thanks you for stating it again so plainly. But I think someone will come in and want to qualify this for you. Either way, I’ll bookmark this post for future reference. No. The anti-SSM position is by definition the position that one group of people should not have access to the rights of general society. If they lacked this access through some fault of their own, this might be a justifiable position (e.g., criminals lack certain rights). If they lacked this access through some developmental peculiarity, this might be a justifiable position (e.g., children lack certain rights). If they lacked this access through some specific temporary condition, this might be a justifiable position (e.g., people in a courtroom lack certain rights). But none of these exceptions apply. So there’s not going to be a justifiable reason to limit the rights of gay folks to marry the people they love. Go ahead and bookmark this post, and please bring it up a lot. If there’s anyone left on the fence, it’ll be a good reminder for them that bigotry doesn’t have an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/222 "2014-04-09T11:07:53Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > But, as you no doubt know by now, I am here to help. So, unless you’re opposed to a bit of introspection, you’ll be thanking me for directing you to [this excellent article on the current flap with Eich and the attitude of people like you.](http://www.humanevents.com/2014/04/08/leftist-thought-gangsters-strike-again/) Let’s count the errors: 1. Eich stepped down; there’s no evidence he was forced out. 2. False equivocation between a position held for political expediency with no explicit acts taken to support it (and numerous acts that run counter to it) and a position held out of personal conviction with donations made to support it 3. “Support of traditional marriage”? No, I’m sorry, but _I_ support traditional marriage; you support limiting who can get married. Let’s not play the euphemism game here. 4. Assertion that even the polls are skewed - it couldn’t just simply be that more people support gay marriage, it’s that they’re pressured into saying so… in anonymous surveys 5. “thought control”? A corporation fired a CEO who they thought would be bad for their corporate image. That’s it. 6. “freedom doesn’t matter, nor do tolerance, inclusiveness and compassion” LOL. If you’re still taking this guy seriously after that line, something is wrong. 7. Ignoring that the paradox of tolerance has been solved basically since it was conceived of and formalized 8. Massive overstatement of the abuse homophobes get; no, nobody’s taking away your basic human rights. It’s just that now, for the first time since… well, ever, you’re more likely to be fired due to an intolerant position you hold than due to an immutable characteristic of your personage. Maybe I should make a thread asking why homophobes feel so victimized… 9. “Stalinists”. Wait, wasn’t David supposed to be the _smart_ one in the family? …I’m sorry, these are minutes of my life I will never get back. Limbaugh is _deranged_. This article is a descent into the madness of extreme right-wing paranoia, heaped with a healthy dose of invective and bigotry, all smothered in the biggest victim complex this side of Tony Perkins. If it weren’t for the fact that many on the right take this guy seriously, I’d just write it off as a case for the WAAAAAMBULANCE. How does this happen? Seriously, how the hell does this happen? How do people like this come to be respected, and taken seriously? This guy belongs in an institution, not on the air. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/223 "2014-04-09T11:57:33Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > In fact, all I’ve ever seen is exactly what you say, that there is no reason–not religion or stupidity or spite or goofiness or being elderly–that is ever acceptable. The religious, stupid and spiteful have had 20 years to present their reasons. In 20 years I haven’t heard a reason that doesn’t boil down to hating gay people and the way they live their lives. At best, at its most charitable, the reason offered is that the gay lifestyle is “inferior”, and we need to protect children and protect the concept of marriage from it. After 20 years of this nonsense, I’m more than happy to tell the anti-SSM crowd that they’re full of shit, they don’t have any acceptable reasoning behind their views, and I don’t really need to listen to the came old crap coming out of a new mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/224 "2014-04-09T13:36:47Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Thanks you for stating it again so plainly. But I think someone will come in and want to qualify this for you. Either way, I’ll bookmark this post for future reference. I’m on your side in _this_ argument, but the anti-SSM crowd _are_ categorically wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/225 "2014-04-09T13:51:58Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > But I do commend you for coming out and stating flatly what most others dance around—that you don’t care what the reasons are that one might oppose it, they’re wrong. Period. I like that clarity, even though I didn’t phrase it quite as well as you did. > > Now I’ll sit back and wait for you to scramble to qualify your statement and others to come to your assistance. All to recloak the truth that has been stripped bare, albeit for a moment. Is there anyone dancing around the idea that the anti-SSM folks are categorically, uniformly wrong? I’ll go on record here: I don’t care what their reasons are, they’re wrong. Period. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. Exactly what is the “gotcha” here? I’m bookmarking my own post just in case I ever need to be reminded that bigots are bigots whether they’re fighting against SSM or defending anti-miscegenation laws. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/226 "2014-04-09T13:52:54Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Having worked in Silicon Valley for 17 years and in tech for 35, I don’t see a ton of religion. No one minds it as far as I can tell - but religion does not give anyone a pass for obnoxious positions here. This is just about the best post in the whole thread. Because it mentions Silicon Valley. Eich wasn’t thrown under the bus due to bunch of anonymous bloggers or a stunt from OK Cupid . It was because his eight year old contribution got under the skins of one very important group of people: the employees. We’re talking about about a group of very, very employable people working for a non-profit in Silicon Valley. They could all walk next door and work for Google and probably get a 25% pay rise. They choose not too because they enjoy working for some happy-clappy feel-good liberal etc. 501c. Who just made a homophobic bigot the CEO. Losing 20% of your workforce is a high price to pay. Did the people who voted to put this guy in charge not know that Mozilla HQ is less than hour away from San Francisco? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/227 "2014-04-09T14:02:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Is there anyone dancing around the idea that the anti-SSM folks are categorically, uniformly wrong? > > I’ll go on record here: I don’t care what their reasons are, they’re wrong. Period. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. Exactly what is the “gotcha” here? > > I’m bookmarking my own post just in case I ever need to be reminded that bigots are bigots whether they’re fighting against SSM or defending anti-miscegenation laws. Yep, sometimes the answer is, you are wrong on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/228 "2014-04-09T15:25:55Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > But I do commend you for coming out and stating flatly what most others dance around—that you don’t care what the reasons are that one might oppose it, they’re wrong. Period. I like that clarity, even though I didn’t phrase it quite as well as you did. > > Now I’ll sit back and wait for you to scramble to qualify your statement and others to come to your assistance. All to recloak the truth that has been stripped bare, albeit for a moment. > [@magellan01](#): > > Thanks you for stating it again so plainly. But I think someone will come in and want to qualify this for you. Either way, I’ll bookmark this post for future reference. This is very, very weird. Of course those people are wrong regardless. How else would it work? 2+2=4 unless you’re religious, in which case we’ll also accept 5? I can’t imagine why you think this is something people will retreat from. The reasons people oppose SSM can be relevant in some contexts because it affects how you might choose to engage with them while discussing the issue, but it doesn’t make them any less wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/229 "2014-04-09T16:40:44Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Thanks you for stating it again so plainly. But I think someone will come in and want to qualify this for you. Either way, I’ll bookmark this post for future reference. Nobody wants to qualify it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/230 "2014-04-09T16:46:02Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Nobody wants to qualify it. I think we have just seen the lamest gotcha in the history of gotchas. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/231 "2014-04-09T16:46:11Z")
I think the real question is when _did_ anybody qualify it? You can acknowledge the sincerity of someone’s opposition to SSM, but that doesn’t make them any less definitively wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/232 "2014-04-09T17:24:36Z")
I’m just hurt that after literally hundreds of posts about marriage equality I’ve exchanged with **magellan** wherein I’ve made exactly the same statement repeatedly, it’s some young thing that comes in out of nowhere that gets the bookmark. Dammit, **mags** , I thought what we had meant something! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/233 "2014-04-09T17:25:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m just hurt that after literally hundreds of posts about marriage equality I’ve exchanged with **magellan** wherein I’ve made exactly the same statement repeatedly, it’s some young thing that comes in out of nowhere that gets the bookmark. > > Dammit, **mags** , I thought what we had meant something! Hey now Miller…I’ve had this argument with him for at least 6 years. Not exactly out of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/234 "2014-04-09T17:26:59Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Hey now Miller…I’ve had this argument with him for at least 6 years. Not exactly out of nowhere. Easy for you to say, you hussy! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/235 "2014-04-09T17:28:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Easy for you to say, you hussy! Fine fine, you can have him. But I’m NOT photographing the wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/236 "2014-04-09T18:57:22Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Fine fine, you can have him. But I’m NOT photographing the wedding. Bigot. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/237 "2014-04-09T19:05:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Bigot. NM. I would have deserved a warning for that response. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/238 "2014-04-09T19:13:30Z")
Ooooh, oooh, tell us what it was! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/239 "2014-04-09T19:21:00Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > NM. I would have deserved a warning for that response. I hope I don’t get one for my post–I figure if a mod can call you hussy, all bets are off. But in case my tongue wasn’t obviously in my cheek, apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359/240 "2014-04-09T19:22:04Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I hope I don’t get one for my post–I figure if a mod can call you hussy, all bets are off. But in case my tongue wasn’t obviously in my cheek, apologies. No no, you were fine. Don’t stress over it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mozilla-ceo-pays-the-price-for-not-being-in-favor-of-gay-marriage/685359.md?page=13)