Mozilla co-founder and chief executive officer Brendan Eich has resigned from his post after a public outcry about his support of the same-sex marriage ban in California, The Associated Press said.
Last week, Eich and Mozilla managed to gain ire from many of the Mountain View, Calif.-based nonprofit maker's employees and users. It was known that Eich had donated a thousand dollars in a 2008 campaign to urge the passing of Proposition 8, which is the controversial constitutional amendment that would effectively outlaw same-sex marriages. Last year, the US Supreme Court left in place a lower-court ruling that had overturned the proposed measure.
AP said that although the contribution had gotten some negative reaction from the past, the reaction was more resonating when Eich was named CEO of the company. Aside from Mozilla employees, the company and Eich received more backlash online. OKCupid, a dating website said in its website that it will no longer use Mozilla's software, which aided the dating site's users to access their accounts with Firefox.
In an open letter published online, Mozilla Chairwoman Mitchell Baker apologized on the company's recent actions and that Eich has stepped down for the company's sake.
"We have employees with a wide diversity of views. Our culture of openness extends to encouraging staff and community to share their beliefs and opinions in public. This is meant to distinguish Mozilla from most organizations and hold us to a higher standard. But this time we failed to listen, to engage, and to be guided by our community. While painful, the events of the last week show exactly why we need the web. So all of us can engage freely in the tough conversations we need to make the world better. We need to put our focus back on protecting that Web. And doing so in a way that will make you proud to support Mozilla," Baker said in a statement.
Baker added that the company is still currently discussing its plans for the company's leadership.
AP could not be able to reach out to a Mozilla spokesperson for immediate comment.
