OkCupid Asks Firefox Users To Switch Browsers Over Mozilla CEO’s Opposition For Gay Rights

As of today, when you visit dating site OkCupid in a Mozilla Firefox browser, your experience will be interrupted with a notice about how Mozilla’s new CEO is an opponent for gay rights.

“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.

Politics is normally not the business of a website, and we all know there’s a lot more wrong with the world than misguided CEOs. So you might wonder why we’re asserting ourselves today. This is why: we’ve devoted the last ten years to bringing people—all people—together. If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8% of the relationships we’ve worked so hard to bring about would be illegal. 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. ”

The issue they reference was when Eich supported California’s Proposition 8 back in 2008. The donation became public a few years ago and caused an initial uproar, which was then reignited when Mozilla appointed Eich their new CEO

What are your thoughts? Happy to see OkCupid take a stand? Or is OkCupid going too far?

Equaldex is a collaborative LGBT knowledge base visualizing LGBT rights by country.

Crowdsourced Website Equaldex Launches, Provides Global View of LGBT Rights

Equaldex, the collaborative LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights knowledge base has launched! The site is aimed at crowdsourcing every LGBT-related law around the world.

The site provides users an accurate and comprehensive global view of the LGBT movement, with the use of maps, LGBT rights timelines, statistics, and historical data in each country and region.

How Equaldex Works

Equaldex is completely collaborative; as LGBT laws change, users update the database, citing reputable sources for accuracy. Other users are encouraged to authenticate the accuracy of each update and the information becomes verified as site usage increases.

The site’s growing database includes a variety of LGBT-related issues for each region: gay marriage, serving in the military, discrimination protection, donating blood, same-sex adoption, the ability to legally change gender, and more.

Visualizing the LGBT Movement

Data on Equaldex is structured in a consistent format, which is displayed in the form of maps, visualizations, and statistics about the LGBT rights movement. Equaldex aims to become an invaluable educational resource and provide a comprehensive insight into how the LGBT rights movement is progressing and which areas of the world are falling behind.

User Contributions & Collaborative Research

Users are credited for contributing information to Equaldex, giving them an extra incentive to continuously update the site. Each user has a profile that shows contributions they’ve made, the amount of “accurate” votes their contributions received, and the regions to which they’ve contributed.

Using a “discussion” page on each region, users can collaborate by sharing resources, discussing the status of the region’s laws, and helping each other research missing or ambiguous information.

Visit Equaldex, The LGBT Knowledge Base

Equaldex, The Collaborative LGBT Knowledge Base, to Launch on February 25

After months of testing and contributions by hundreds of Alpha Testers, Equaldex will be launching to the public on Tuesday, February 25. The site is a global LGBT rights website that can be edited by anyone.

Aimed at becoming a comprehensive resource for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) laws and data in each country and region, Equaldex allows users to contribute data — along with sources — which becomes verified by other users.

Upon launching to the public, the entire Equaldex site will become publicly visible, while editing will be restricted to members who have been granted access. 

Want to try it out early? Request access to Equaldex.

Journalists: for press and media inquiries, please contact Dan Leveille (dan@equaldex.com) for additional information and a demo.

Google Takes Aim At Russia With Rainbow Olympics Doodle

Google.com is featuring a rainbow-colored Olympics “Doodle” to take aim at Russia’s anti “gay propaganda” policies, just a day before the Sochi Olympics opening ceremonies.

The Doodle is also appearing on Google.ru. Below the search box is a quote from the Olympic Charter:

“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” –Olympic Charter

Clicking the logo brings you to the Google search results for “Olympic Charter,” the rules and guidelines that govern the Olympics.

Did you know?: A Gaygler is Google’s term for an LGBT Google employee

Learn more about the LGBT rights movement in Russia and around the world. Sign up for early access to Equaldex.

Eight States Have Laws Banning Promotion of LGBTQ Topics, Similar to Russia’s Ban on Gay Propaganda

GLSEN published three interactive maps showing discrimination laws in the United States, which the Washington Post compares to Russia’s anti homosexual propaganda policies in some regard.

Eight states limit speech about homosexuality in ways similar to, though not as far-reaching as, the Russian ban that has received international criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Trevor Project explains that these laws “ban educators from talking about LGBTQ people, issues or history” and points out that they may prevent LGBTQ people from being in a safe environment.

Learn more about LGBT laws around the world. Sign up for early access to Equaldex.

Untitled by Anna Jordan

A photograph by Anna Jordan.

(via Untitled by Anmagdan on deviantART)

Gay Marriage is Against Nature [Comic]

by Dan Piraro of Bizarro Comics (via Reddit)

Sign up for early access to Equaldex, the collaborative knowledge base for the LGBT movement.

Today Is The Transgender Day of Remembrance

Take a moment to honor and celebrate those lives that were lost due to anti-transgender hate. Above is a list of the individuals who lost their lives this year. This is just a fraction of the trans people who were murdered this year – many more were documented but were unidentified in the media.

View the full list
Learn more on transgenderdor.org

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Join us: Equaldex is a crowdsourced knowledge base for the LGBT movement.

Support Your Favourite LGBT Organizations When You Make a Purchase on Amazon

Donating to your favourite LGBT organizations just got easier! Amazon recently launched Amazon Smile, a feature where the company will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to an organization of your choice. 

Amazon’s database includes almost a million charities, schools, and other nonprofits, including many LGBT organizations.

“Tens of millions of products” on Amazon are eligible for AmazonSmile donations, and those are marked as “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation.” All you need to do is select an organization and shop!

Can’t think of an organization to donate to? Here are just a few LGBT organizations available on AmazonSmile:

• Iola Foundation (The It Get’s Better Project)
• Human Rights Campaign Foundation
• Trevor Project
• Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. (GLAAD)
• GLSEN, Inc.

Which organization will you be donating to?

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Sign up for early access to Equaldex, the collaborative knowledge base for the LGBT movement.