OkCupid Slams Mozilla CEO, Pushes Competing Browsers

OkCupid is jumping into the controversy surrounding Mozilla's new CEO, offering those who visit the dating site via Firefox the option to install a competing browser.

"Pardon this interruption for your OkCupid experience," says a note on OkCupid.com. "Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples. We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid."

A link at the bottom of the page takes Firefox users to the normal OkCupid.com, but not before the dating site offers up links to Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari.

At issue is a $1,000 donation that Eich, Mozilla's new CEO, made in 2008 in support of California's Prop. 8, which sought to ban gay marriage. The issue cropped up again in recent weeks after Eich, a Mozilla co-founder, landed the top job at the browser maker.

In a Monday statement, Mozilla said it "supports equality for all, including marriage equality for LGBT couples. No matter who you are or who you love, everyone deserves the same rights and to be treated equally. OkCupid never reached out to us to let us know of their intentions, nor to confirm facts."

That echoes what Eich said in a blog post of his own. He did not specifically mention the donation, but he committed to "equality in everything we do, from employment to events to community-building."

OkCupid said it decided to speak out because "we've devoted the last ten years to bringing people—all people—together."

"If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8 percent of the relationships we've worked so hard to bring about would be illegal," the company continued. "Equality for gay relationships is personally important to many of us here at OkCupid. But it's professionally important to the entire company. OkCupid is for creating love. Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure."

For more, watch PCMag Live in the video below, which discusses OkCupid's move.