The new CEO of Mozilla, the company that produces popular, open source internet browser Firefox, has resigned after two weeks because he donated to an anti-gay marriage campaign.

Brendan Eich stepped down amid public outcry over his support for California’s ‘Proposition 8‘ which in 2008 created a State constitutional amendment preserving the traditional definition of marriage.

The protest included popular dating site OKCupid blocking direct access from a Firefox browser by putting up a protest page that said “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.”

Thousands of petition-signers and many employees of the technology company called on Eich to either openly endorse gay marriage or be removed from the firm, National Review reports.

Eich did not discriminate against gay staff in his role at Mozilla where he was a co-founder, according to staff. He worked well with a very diverse staff. “When he was named Mozilla’s new CEO, I personally was delighted”, reports gay tech writer Jo Dell. “Eich is the opposite of the stuffy, intimidating, self-aggrandizing tech CEOs I’ve known. He’s a thoughtful, nerdy, humble guy — the kind of guy you want to corner at a party and talk about web technologies with for an hour.”

Gay activist Andrew Sullivan, who is no friend of traditional marriage, has put out an angry blog post supporting Eich: “The guy who had the gall to express his First Amendment rights and favor Prop 8 in California by donating $1,000 has just been scalped by some gay activists.”

“Will he now be forced to walk through the streets in shame? Why not the stocks? The whole episode disgusts me – as it should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society. If this is the gay rights movement today – hounding our opponents with a fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else – then count me out.”

Is there room in the boardroom for people with unpopular points of view? Mozilla still thinks there is.

““Our organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness,” Mitchell Baker, chair of the Firefox Foundation wrote. ”We welcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views. Mozilla supports equality for all.”

But in the wake of Eich’s resignation in the face of public pressure, others will ask “how inclusive is inclusive?”