Mozilla chief Brendan Eich quits amidst gay marriage controversy
Brendan Eich, the controversial head of Mozilla, has resigned in the wake of a storm of controversy surrounding his opposition to gay marriage.
Euch had initially been defended by his board following revelations that he had helped to finance opponents of same-sex marriage laws in California but subsequently rescinded this in the face of a wave of public opprobrium, coming to a head with a widely publicised open rebuke from OkCupid.
Explaining the board’s change of heart Mozilla’s executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker said in a blog post: “Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it. We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.
“We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.”
Looking to the future Baker added that a replacement for Eich was still being discussed and would be announced next week.
Eich was a co-founder of Mozilla, famed for its Firefox web browser.