OkCupid urges users to boycott Mozilla Firefox over CEO’s support for anti-LGBT law

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/31/okcupid-urges-users-to-boycott-mozilla-firefox-over-ceos-support-for-anti-lgbt-law/



OkCupid urges users to boycott Mozilla Firefox over CEO’s support for anti-LGBT law
By Reuters
Monday, March 31, 2014 22:02 EDT
By Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – OkCupid.com, the popular online dating site, called for a boycott of Mozilla Firefox to protest the world’s No. 2 Web browser naming a gay marriage opponent as chief executive.

OkCupid visitors who accessed the website through Firefox on Monday were told in a message to use other browsers such as Microsoft Corp’s Internet Explorer or Google Inc’s Chrome.

“Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples,” the message said. “We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid.”

“Especially in the kind of modern hero culture, the CEO is equivalent to the company,” said Christian Rudder, an OkCupid co-founder. “We have users who are trying to find other people and we wanted to point out that this browser might be in conflict with their own values.”

[chillfactor]

1. sorry I like Mozilla Firefox....

I have the Linux OS and Firefox and the OS work very smoothly together

[madaboutharry]

3. People liked the buses in Birmingham too.

It's called standing up for the rights of others.

[qazplm]

4. except Mozilla provides same sex benefits

so they stand up for that.

[dbackjon]

13. As long as you are happy - fuck the rest of us.

[madaboutharry]

2. People who oppose equal rights for all

need to be called out for the bigots they are.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Which we have correctly done,

but how many inconveniences and sacrifices do we have to make for a social cause? I'm not uninstalling Firefox to put what I consider to be an inferior browser on my computer. I prefer Firefox over IE, Opera and Chrome.

I don't see what a boycott will do that will affect the CEOs attitude towards gay marriage or the financial effect on Mozilla since Firefox is a free browser.

It also seems hypocritical for the LGBT community to ask the CEO to respect our rights and values when we don't respect the rights and values of those who disagree with us, as flawed as those values are.

[Maven]

8. Not all "values" are created equal or should be respected

Hate and discrimination being one of them.

"how many inconveniences and sacrifices do we have to make for a social cause"

None, if you care nothing about it.

"It also seems hypocritical for the LGBT community to ask the CEO to respect our rights and values when we don't respect the rights and values of those who disagree with us, as flawed as those values are"

Do you respect racists for "disagreeing" and having different "values" also?

[TexasTowelie]

9. I actually care a lot about the issue of gay marriage; however, I don't give a damn about what the

CEO of a company thinks. I actually took the time to look at other alternatives to using Firefox and I realized that I would be spending a lot of time to learn how to use the different browsers. I also have nearly 200 bookmarks that I would have to cut and paste into Opera when I worked on the product. I actually spent about 4 hours examining the software to determine if it was practical to switch. The fact that I couldn't launch Internet Explorer (which I need to use) after I installed Opera also weighed into my decision. I had the same problem when I tried using Chrome a couple of years ago.

I also think that trying to compare this controversy to racism is stretching the point. I don't respect racists at all, but I also know that I don't have any power to change someone's core beliefs. I may not agree with those beliefs, but I respect everyone's right to their own beliefs and values. That is why I never attack anyone or make insinuations when I post on online forums as you did in your post. Would you want somebody else to come to you and say that you must believe in a certain cause when your opinions differ?

This isn't a similar situation than Chik-fil-A or the bakers that refused to bake wedding cakes for gay couples. I'm not providing any revenue to the bigot at Mozilla so that he can make political donations. As I matter of fact, I think that I'm actually taking advantage of the situation to screw the guy over by using the free software and not paying for it. He gains nothing from me. Now for situations such as the Chik-fil-A CEO or the people at Hobby Lobby, I realize that any financial involvement does provide revenue to make donations to causes that I disagree with. In those cases I do exercise my right to not promote their bigotry with my wallet and I take my business elsewhere.

In the end, I'm only one person and whether I use or don't use Firefox isn't going to have any impact on either the CEO or the company. It's my choice to determine what products work best for me and to decide what causes to support and at what level I should support them. Who are you to question my freedom of choice? And for that matter, how do you know whether or not I'm part of the LGBT community? You might want to check the LGBT forum because I have plenty of posts there.

Thank you.

[Maven]

10. Excuse me

you're the person who suggested LGBT people were "hypocritical" for not being respectful of antigay bigots' sincerely held belief that gay people aren't entitled to equal rights. This is a RW argument, btw, i.e., gays who demand their rights are showing "religious intolerance". It is nonsense. I will not tolerate intolerance directed at my community and that does not make me a hypocrite. Discrimination and equality are not co-equal causes.

The comparison to racism is meant to illustrate a common double-standard among apologists for homophobia; that is, racism is truly irrational and beyond the pale, but homophobia might be based on something understandable, justifiable even. 'Beliefs and values'. Bullshit. They are not exactly the same but they come from the same goddamn place. I don't know if you are or aren't a member of the GLBT community. I do know that your whine about having to make sooooo many sacrifices for a "social cause" reeks of resentment to me, not support.

Finally, no one is taking away your freedom of choice. If others choose to boycott, that is their prerogative as well. Market share is web browsers' stock in trade. If nothing else, I want bigots in positions of power to have a harsh spotlight on them. It's the only way real change happens in this country.

[TexasTowelie]

11. So are you comparing me to a right winger?

I think that you are sadly mistaken.

The LGBT community has called out the bigot. I'm not joining the boycott, but that doesn't mean I don't support the LGBT community.

Do what you wish, but I do see elements of hypocrisy regarding the stand of the LGBT community. You can call bullshit on it, but other people (not me) would call your whining (your word, not mine) the same.

[Maven]

12. No, not comparing you to a right winger

I don't know you. I am however bringing to your attention the fact that your argument is one used by RWers to justify their hate campaign and attack those who (rightly) oppose them.

Again I draw a parallel: would you call a black person a hypocrite for being "intolerant" toward those who favor anti-miscegenation laws, based on their sincerely held religious belief that races shouldn't mix?

[TexasTowelie]

14. No, but I believe you are making a false equivalency.

I also wouldn't call a white person a hypocrite in those circumstances either. And yes, I had to look up anti-miscegenation laws since that wasn't in my vocabulary.

The fact that you originally compared about racism with gay marriage laws and now mentioned anti-miscegenation laws does indicate that you are having to stretch to bolster your POV though since I don't see those as parallel circumstances. The primary topic was gay marriage laws and the secondary topic was tolerance of others to disagree on core beliefs. I don't see that it helps any group of individuals to ask for tolerance when they respond with intolerance. When people alienate those with opposing viewpoints it does nothing to resolve the issues and only creates further divisiveness.

Sometimes the intolerance shown from one group to another results in a backlash response such as what happened a couple of years ago with Chik-fil-A and conservatives responded with an appreciation day for the chain. This boycott campaign might actually lead more people that agree with the Mozilla CEO to switch and use that browser or purchase other products from that company.

You are welcome to boycott Mozilla and I certainly apologize if you believe that I labelled you as a hypocrite because that wasn't my intention. However, it isn't fair to label me as uncaring or insensitive to the LGBT community based on the fact that I'm not joining forces with LGBTs in this one instance when I found a product that I prefer to use. I did due diligence to at least consider alternative browsers to support LGBTs; however, in the end I was dissatisfied with the alternatives and won't join the boycott.

[Maven]

15. You are mistaken.

It is not a false equivalency; in fact, the two issues historically have many parallels. I invite you to google a little bit further and you will find that in the run-up to Loving v. Virginia many, many racist bigots relied on their "core beliefs" and religious doctrine to oppose mixed-race marriages. And I'm not just talking about violent criminals in white hoods; I'm talking about people who were otherwise considered upstanding, devout, politically active citizens.

Hate and acceptance are not merely 'opposing viewpoints', no matter how the haters seek to justify their sincerely held belief that I should cease to exist. The fact that you characterize action by the gay rights movement and actions by religious conservatives to oppress gay people as equal forms of 'intolerance' speaks volumes. In fact it is you making a false equivalency, and a very dangerous one. Frankly I'm not interested in having a good faith discussion with people who believe I don't deserve the right to live openly and have equal rights, and it's not my problem if they're 'alienated' by my existence. It's 2014. At this point those who oppose equal marriage should simply be relegated to the dustbin of history, right along with their predecessors - the public supporters of anti-miscegenation laws. It's no longer my job to convince them of anything. They are wrong, and their time to be taken seriously is over.

In summary, I don't think using a particular web browser makes you a bigot. However, I do think there are some things you need to examine in yourself before you can call yourself a supporter of LGBT rights. I hope you get there, but you just aren't there yet.

[TexasTowelie]

16. All I can say is that you know nothing about me so believe what you wish.

I'm tired of this and not spending any more time on it. At least I didn't tell you that your views were bullshit like you did to me. That is the intolerance that I was mentioning and it makes me feel ashamed to be part of the LGBT community, so now you do know something about me.

[TexasTowelie]

5. I use Firefox also, but keep Internet Explorer on my computer since some Websites use markup

language specific to that browser and some hyperlinks and command buttons become non-functional when using other browsers.

Yesterday I installed Softonic Opera on my PC because I saw some features that looked like they could be useful such as cascading/tiled tabs on the same screen. Anyway, the last six versions of Opera don't have those features anymore and I was unable to launch Internet Explorer. I uninstalled the program afterwards and the problems were resolved. I experienced similar problems when I installed Google Chrome a couple of years ago.

While I oppose the stance of the CEO on gay marriage I also have to ask how many sacrifices I have to make to support a social cause. I am supportive of the LGBT community in other ways as noted by my posts in this forum. It isn't like he is receiving any money from me since it is free software.

I also have to ask if whether the LGBT community is being tolerant and open to other ideas when we condemn the views of others that don't agree with us. It seems hypocritical to condemn someone for their personal/religious beliefs and intolerance when we show that same level of intolerance ourselves.

The effect of this boycott won't persuade the CEO to change his views and there will be minimal net effect on the company so I'll set my outrage aside knowing that of all the browsers that I've tried Firefox has given me the most satisfaction.

[Jim Lane]

7. Gates pushes education "reform" and Google conspires with Apple against workers.

OkCupid loses some of the moral high ground when it suggests MSIE and Chrome as alternatives.