Fate of Mozilla CEO illustrates importance of donor anonymity

If you want to put your career and standing as a public figure at risk, it appears that there is no quicker path to destruction than to take on the gay rights lobby these days. Just ask the now-former CEO of Mozilla who just resigned due to pressure put on him as a result of a $1,000 contribution he made to a 2008 California ballot measure that banned gay marriage in that State (at least until the Courts got hold of it).

Regardless of your position on gay marriage (I share Jonah Goldberg’s view on the issue), this state of affairs where you have to toe the, now popular line on any public issue, is downright scary. More importantly, this kind of debacle provides an excellent argument on behalf of those, like us, who support donor privacy and understand the need to keep at least some donations to politicians and public issue campaigns private.