Business Insider
Sam Yagan, CEO of Match Inc and co-founder of OkCupid
According to federal election records, Yagan donated $500 in 2004 to U.S. Congressman Chris Cannon who has a "special kind of hate for gays," investor Michael Arrington wrote on his blog Uncrunched earlier this week. Cannon received a 0% rating on supporting gay rights from the Human Rights Campaign. He also voted for a ban on gay adoptions, and supported a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, Arrington wrote.
Yagan is now the CEO of Match.com, which owns OkCupid.
But Yagan says that he was not aware of Cannon's stance on gay rights at the time, he told The Huffington Post in an emailed statement. Instead, Yagan said he donated to Cannon because of his position on the House subcommittee for Internet and intellectual property.
"I accept responsibility for not knowing where he stood on gay rights in particular," Yagan told The Huffington Post. "I unequivocally support marriage equality and I would not make that contribution again today."
Here's the full statement, via The Huffington Post:
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.