By Ian Tingen
My last post noted OkCupid’s clubbing of then-new Mozilla CEO Brandon Eich over his anti-human-rights stance. I say then-new because it turns out that Eich has stepped down since my last note. In an interesting “NO BUT YOU!” turn of events, it seems that OkCupid founder Sam Yagan contributed some money to vociferously anti-gay politician Chris Cannon (R-UT). Some outlets, like Hot Air, were quick to point out the hypocrisy. But, as it turns out, it wasn’t really hypocrisy. Well, sort of. In a note to the San Francisco Chronicle, Yagan writes:
I made a contribution to Representative Chris Cannon because he was the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee that oversaw the Internet and Intellectual Property, matters important to my business and our industry. I accept responsibility for not knowing where he stood on gay rights in particular; I unequivocally support marriage equality and I would not make that contribution again today.
What’s not surprising here is that a tech CEO made a political contribution to a guy who was in a position of power. What is is that he got called out on his stance, apologized, made no bones about it. That’s not hypocrisy, that’s honor.
UPDATE (4/8/14): Turns out Hot Air wasn’t the only outlet to get angsty about the fallout from the above; RedState lamented the ‘the totalitarian impulse of the Mozilla corporation’. You know, I’m really wondering: when did free speech come without cost? Seriously. Also, if anyone has any good examples from a non-conservative site that are on par with this one, I’d love to hear about it. I admit I can’t bring any to mind readily.
Intersection 9 