A copy of the the open letter signed by various LGBT advocates including PayPal founder Peter Thiel, political advocate Agent Walker and former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears.

1.
Freedom
to
Marry,
Freedom
to
Dissent:
Why
We
Must
Have
Both
A
Response
to
Brandon
Eich’s
Resignation
from
Mozilla

2. The last few years have brought an astonishing moral and political transformation in the American debate over
same-sex marriage and gay equality. This has been a triumph not only for LGBT Americans but for the American
idea. But the breakthrough has brought with it rapidly rising expectations among some supporters of gay marriage
that the debate should now be over. As one advocate recently put it, “It would be enough for me if those people who
are so ignorant or intransigent as to still be anti-gay in 2014 would simply shut up.”
The signatories of this statement are grateful to our friends and allies for their enthusiasm. But we are concerned
that recent events, including the resignation of the CEO of Mozilla under pressure because of an anti-same-sex-
marriage donation he made in 2008, signal an eagerness by some supporters of same-sex marriage to punish
rather than to criticize or to persuade those who disagree. We reject that deeply illiberal impulse, which is both
wrong in principle and poor as politics.
We support same-sex marriage; many of us have worked for it, in some cases for a large portion of our professional
and personal lives. We affirm our unwavering commitment to civic and legal equality, including marriage equality.
At the same time, we also affirm our unwavering commitment to the values of the open society and to vigorous
public debate—the values that have brought us to the brink of victory.
Diversity Is the Natural Consequence of Liberty
The gay rights struggle is about freedom and equality for all. The best and most free society is one that allows the
largest number to live true to their core beliefs and identities. It is a society that allows its members to speak their
minds and shape their own aspirations.
The natural consequence of true liberty is diversity. Unless a society can figure out a way to reach perfect
agreement, conflicting views will be inevitable. Any effort to impose conformity, through government or any other
means, by punishing the misguided for believing incorrectly will impoverish society intellectually and oppress it
politically.
The test of our commitment to liberal principles is not our eagerness to hear ideas we share, but our willingness to
consider seriously those we oppose.
Progress Comes from Persuasion
There is no evidence that Brendan Eich, the Mozilla CEO who resigned over his $1,000 donation to California’s
Proposition 8 campaign, believed in or practiced any form of discrimination against Mozilla’s LGBT employees.
That would be a very different case. He was pressured to leave because of personal political action he took at a time
when a majority of the American public shared his view. And while he acknowledged the pain his donation caused,
he did not publicly “recant,” which some suggested he should have done as the price of keeping his job.
So the issue is cleanly presented: Is opposition to same-sex marriage by itself, expressed in a political campaign,
beyond the pale of tolerable discourse in a free society? We cannot wish away the objections of Christian, Jewish,
and Muslim faith traditions, or browbeat them into submission. Even in our constitutional system, persuasion is a
minority’s first and best strategy. It has served us well and we should not be done with it.
Free Speech Is a Value, Not Just a Law
Much of the rhetoric that emerged in the wake of the Eich incident showed a worrisome turn toward intolerance
and puritanism among some supporters of gay equality—not in terms of formal legal sanction, to be sure, but in
terms of abandonment of the core liberal values of debate and diversity.

3. Sustaining a liberal society demands a culture that welcomes robust debate, vigorous political advocacy, and a
decent respect for differing opinions. People must be allowed to be wrong in order to continually test what is right.
We should criticize opposing views, not punish or suppress them.
The freedom—not just legal but social—to express even very unpopular views is the engine that propelled the gay-
rights movement from its birth against almost hopeless odds two generations ago. A culture of free speech created
the social space for us to criticize and demolish the arguments against gay marriage and LGBT equality. For us and
our advocates to turn against that culture now would be a betrayal of the movement’s deepest and most humane
values.
Disagreement Should Not Be Punished
We prefer debate that is respectful, but we cannot enforce good manners. We must have the strength to accept that
some people think misguidedly and harmfully about us. But we must also acknowledge that disagreement is not,
itself, harm or hate.
As a viewpoint, opposition to gay marriage is not a punishable offense. It can be expressed hatefully, but it can also
be expressed respectfully. We strongly believe that opposition to same-sex marriage is wrong, but the consequence
of holding a wrong opinion should not be the loss of a job. Inflicting such consequences on others is sadly ironic in
light of our movement’s hard-won victory over a social order in which LGBT people were fired, harassed, and
socially marginalized for holding unorthodox opinions.
Enforcing Orthodoxy Hurts Everyone
LGBT Americans can and do demand to be treated fairly. But we also recognize that absolute agreement on any
issue does not exist. Franklin Kameny, one of America’s earliest and greatest gay-rights proponents, lost his job in
1957 because he was gay. Just as some now celebrate Eich’s departure as simply reflecting market demands, the
government justified the firing of gay people because of “the possible embarrassment to, and loss of public
confidence in . . . the Federal civil service.” Kameny devoted his life to fighting back. He was both tireless and
confrontational in his advocacy of equality, but he never tried to silence or punish his adversaries.
Now that we are entering a new season in the debate that Frank Kameny helped to open, it is important to live up
to the standard he set. Like him, we place our confidence in persuasion, not punishment. We believe it is the only
truly secure path to equal rights.

4. SIGNATORIES
Affiliations and employers are for identification purposes only
Jonathan Adler
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Kenneth Anderson
American University Washington College of Law
Brian Bix
University of Minnesota Law School
David Blankenhorn
President, Institute for American Values
Reginald J. Brown
Partner, WilmerHale
Jim Burroway
Box Turtle Bulletin
Steven G. Calabresi
Northwestern University Law School
Dale Carpenter
University of Minnesota Law School
Brian Chase
Former senior staff attorney, Lambda Legal Defense
and Education Fund
James Chen
Michigan State University Law School
Jeff Cook-McCormac
Senior Advisor, American Unity Fund
John Corvino
Wayne State University
Donald Downs
University of Wisconsin—Madison
Beth Elliott
Daughters of Bilitis
California Committee for Sexual Law Reform
Richard Epstein
New York University School of Law
William A. Galston
The Brookings Institution
Margaret Hoover
President, American Unity Fund
Lisa Graham Keegan
Former Arizona State Superintendent of Public
Instruction
Timothy Kincaid
Box Turtle Bulletin
Gregory J. King
HRCF Communications Director, 1989-1995
James Kirchick
The Daily Beast
Heidi Kitrosser
University of Minnesota Law School
Jim Kolbe
Former member, U.S. House of Representatives
David Lampo
Author, “A Fundamental Freedom”
Log Cabin Republicans
Eli Lehrer
President, R Street Institute
James Lindgren
Northwestern University Law School
David Link
Fred Litwin
Fabulous Blue Tent
Brett McDonnell
University of Minnesota Law School
William McGeveran
University of Minnesota Law School
Ken Mehlman
Businessman; 62nd Chairman, Republican National
Committee
Stephen H. Miller
Independent Gay Forum/IGF Culture Watch
Charles Murray
American Enterprise Institute
Norman Ornstein
American Enterprise Institute

5. Richard Painter
University of Minnesota Law School
Branden Petersen
Minnesota State Senate
Mark Pietrzyk
David Post
Temple University School of Law
Randy R. Potts
Box Turtle Bulletin
Joe Radinovich
Minnesota State House of Representatives
Jonathan Rauch
The Brookings Institution
Stephen Richer
The University of Chicago Law School
Purple Elephant Republicans
Jonathan W. Rowe
Mercer County Community College
Will Saletan
Slate.com
Robert Sarvis
2014 U.S. Senate candidate, Virginia
Sally Satel
American Enterprise Institute
Leah Ward Sears
Partner at Schiff Hardin LLP
Former Georgia Supreme Court Justice.
Rick Sincere
Chairman, Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty
Christina Hoff Sommers
Resident Scholar
American Enterprise Institute
Andrew Sullivan
Berin Szoka
President, TechFreedom
Rich Tafel
Public Squared
Peter Thiel
Co-founder, PayPal
Rob Tisinai
Box Turtle Bulletin
Eugene Volokh
UCLA School of Law
Sasha Volokh
Emory Law School
Milan Vydareny
Cathy Young
Contributing Editor, Reason Magazine