There’ve been a lot of opinions, measured and not, about the resignation of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. Some measured (Forbes) and some not (TPNN), some making light (Dan Savage) and some being dry as bones (NYTimes). Some claim that we’ve become our enemies (slate) and others that this was correcting a bad decision (New Yorker). Some say this is a chilling precedent (Sullivan) while others say Mozilla is unique (Guardian).
Much has been said about the process, about OkCupid and the public’s role, about whether it was fair or right, and I’m sure that’s important. But to me, I’m wondering -- how long until this becomes the way we always do things? As far as I can see, it’s inevitable.
Gay rights advocates, myself included, have centered the strength of our argument in favor of gay marriage and LGBT discrimination laws on the premise that without these laws, we are effectively second-class citizens. And by extension, those who oppose the laws see and treat us as such. We can hardly be surprised when Mozilla employees and their company take us at our word and remove a leader we’ve categorically identified as mistreating us.
Like James Suriowecki of the New Yorker, I don’t see this as significantly different than a company refusing to hire a leader who donated money in favor of segregation or opposed to interracial marriage in the 1970s. Companies want the most out of their employees no matter their background, and nobody gives their best work or chooses to work for someone who feels they or their family are second-class citizens.
If Eich had tweeted racist remarks, or made a blog post with an argument against interracial marriage, this still would have been a national story -- but it would have been as the butt of jokes on late night TV, and his firing would surprise nobody. No donation would have been required. Over the last 40 years, not being racist, or more accurately, not publicly supporting racism have become a litmus test for leadership in America.
I know the act of gay sex was only decriminalized nationally 11 years ago. And that less than 20 states have legally recognized gay marriage. But psychologists removed homosexuality as a disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual in 1973. To be honest, I laid out my timeline on the national progress of marriage equality two years ago, before President Obama’s second inaugural, and we are way ahead of my schedule.
So for me, the question is, when is opposition to marriage equality going to be equal to support of segregation? When are gay men and women no longer going to have to accept working for those who believe their citizenship is second class, that families are a sham? I’m honestly asking.