Years ago Sam supported Chris Cannon, known to be Anti-Gay. Some writer at Mother Jones tried to make this a big deal, but it kind of fizzled. However, Sam did respond to the matter:
"A decade ago, 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. However, a contribution made to a candidate with views on hundreds of issues has no equivalence to a contribution supporting Prop 8, a single issue that has no purpose other than to affirmatively prohibit gay marriage, which I believe is a basic civil right."My fear is we may see more of this. Yes, some folks should be called out, but are we sending a message that you can never change?
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If I remember correctly, Brendan's mistake was not making a statement immediately (did he ever?) clarifying why he made the contribution and why he doesn't think that way now and would not make a contribution like that again. He just promised to uphold his Mozilla's standards and practices. He only resigned under the added revelation about his other non-LGBT political backings.
ReplyDeleteWhat is most likely to happen is that other people of prominence will get little or no attention just like Mississippi and their anti-LGBT "religious freedom" law.