Gold's Gym Franchises Splitting With Parent Company Over CEO's Donation To American Crossroads

Gold's Gym is facing a backlash from LGBT activists over its CEO's $2 million donation to American Crossroads, the conservative political group affiliated with former Bush adviser Karl Rove, and its four franchises in the San Francisco Bay Area are now leaving the brand over the controversy.

On Monday, Don Dickerson, the director of operations for Gold's Gym Bay Area, distributed a message through its Facebook page saying that it will be leaving the Gold's Gym brand:

We were as surprised by [CEO] Mr. [Robert] Rowling's action as anyone but because our company believes in and lives up to the ideals of equality for all we are going to take the following actions:

1: Our contractual obligation with Gold's Gym expires on September 15th, 2012 and on or prior to that date (our legal counsel is reviewing our options) we will leave the Gold's Gym brand. It is a major initiative to create a new brand and leave Gold's Gym which has been our identity for over 20 years but we will begin that process today.

2: For every dollar we pay Gold's Gym in franchise fees we will donate an equal or greater amount to LGBT charities. While we donate much more than this to charities and community groups that support the LGBT community we want to make a commitment to match or exceed this amount until our relationship with Gold's Gym can be severed.

3: Our management and staff will continue to support LGBT causes in every way possible and we will use our business as a platform to fight for change and equality for everyone. We have always taken great pride in being a leader in the LGBT community and we will continue to.

Gold's Gym is run by TRT Holdings, headed by billionaire and major Republican donor Robert Rowling.

The site Change.org launched a petition demanding that Gold's Gym stop supporting anti-gay politicians, and it already has nearly 2,000 signatures.

"Using both his corporate and personal bank accounts, Rowling has given upwards of $2 million to Karl Rove's new organization, American Crossroads," reads the petition. "In turn, that money has been used to support some of the most virulently anti-gay politicians in the country. ... Meanwhile, Gold's Gym, a company which continues to make Robert Rowling a very rich man, markets and caters to LGBT customers. Should company executives really be giving money to candidates, from corporate accounts no less, who want to take away civil rights for LGBT Americans?"

Gold's Gym Hollywood, Los Angeles, issued a statement stressing that it "has been locally owned and operated for over twenty years and is NOT owned or operated by TRT. ... While certainly the happenings reported recently are disappointing, disheartening, and inconsistent with our beliefs, Gold's Gym Hollywood has always acted independently with our only responsibilities and allegiances to our members and the communities we serve."

The controversy is reminiscent of the pressure that Target received after its CEO donated $150,000 to MN Forward, a Republican-friendly group that had given money to a Republican candidate who opposes marriage equality. The company had traditionally been known for its LGBT-friendly policies and sponsorships of events.

The Huffington Post contacted Gold's Gym's headquarters but did not receive a reply. We also contacted the downtown DC Gold's Gym, which said it would not be making a statement and referred us to a corporate phone number.

UPDATE, 7:41 p.m.: The Huffington Post received a statement from Gold's Gym International:

For more than 45 years, Gold's Gym has been welcoming and accepting of members from all walks of life. Diversity is a core part of the Gold's Gym tradition and we have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind. We are proud to have a large and dedicated base of LGBT members in our gyms...and value our strong ties with the LGBT community. In addition, we are proud of our employees and franchisees around the world who are part of the LGBT community and who go to work every day to help people achieve their fitness goals.

Gold's Gym did not make a donation to American Crossroads (or any other political organization) and in no way supports anti-gay causes. Quite the contrary, the Gold's Gym family has been strong supporters of the LGBT community over the years. This includes supporting PRIDE events, sponsoring LGBT media outlets and donating to various LGBT charities in the communities we serve.

Gold's Gym is a non-political organization and our member's dues are not used to fund political candidates. Bob Rowling, the CEO of our ownership group, TRT Holdings, made a private donation completely independent from (and not on behalf of) Gold's Gym.

It is important to note that most Gold's Gyms around the country are independently owned and operated by franchisees. They are hard working small business owners who embrace and accept members from all walks of life.

We hope that our friends and long time members of the LBGT community understand that our sole purpose as an organization is to help people reach their fitness goals. Tens of thousands of dedicated employees go to work every day across the country for this very reason. They will continue to do so for the LGBT community and all of the other diverse communities we serve.

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Comments

[Joel Libava]

04:34 PM on 10/28/2010

Here's my first thought;

Who the heck gets paid to write damage control spin like the statement that was issued.

Does anyone even believe it?

With regards to the franchisee that's "leaving the chain."

It's their choice.

If someone believes that strongly in there convictions, then that someone needs to do what they have to do.

The Franchise King®

[scottbayliss]

10:28 AM on 10/28/2010

Of course, people are free to do as they wish and please in this country...consumers as well.

[scottbayliss]

10:27 AM on 10/28/2010

This is the kind of thing I want to see done with other businesses - especially, the banks. Great example of how we can leverage community outrage and simply take our business elsewhere. http://www.knowyourmortgagebanker.com/blog/influence-bank-behavior is a great post about this idea...am sure there are more out there as the idea catches on.

[bynddrvn5]

08:36 AM on 10/27/2010

So no Target, Gold's Gym, or anything made by the Koch bros. Got it.

The Republicans in their current form, care only about removing our rights and standing against everything American, except for Wall Street.

By voting against the Small Business bill the Republican's can't even pretend to care about small or mid sized business, they clearly don't care about Main Street America.

[VeroucaSalt]

06:15 PM on 10/26/2010

If I had a membership with Gold's Gym, I would sever that relationship immediately upon hearing this. While Robert Rowling has every right as an individual to donate to whatever campaign he wishes, as I do, he should also have the same limitations placed on him as to the quantity of money he can donate. Hiding behind his corporate shell is allowing him to act "on behalf of" those who work for him. He is clearly misrepresenting their wishes, as indicated by their response to this news. I hope those who sever their relationship with the parent company do exceedingly well in their newfound state of independence.

[miamorphos]

10:41 PM on 10/26/2010

I have a Golds membership, and I am not canceling. There are a ton of gay employees at Golds, and the gyms have floats in pride parades in most major cities, and the Golds CEO and management are very pro-LGBT in hiring and other company-wide policy decisions. My association with the gym began before Rowling's company bought Golds, and I will probably be a member long after TRT sells off Golds to someone else. I understand that this might cause some people to leave, but I've heard serious homophobic things at other gyms when I visit them, and I know that the management at Golds have a no-tolerance policy for homophobia. I've written to the Golds corporate office to express my gratitude for the years of happiness I've had and to express my concern about Rowling's rightwing politicking. But I'm not going to cancel over this. I urge everyone to stay away who wants to stay away. But it's my gym, and I have a real connection with it.

[citizen625]

06:03 PM on 10/26/2010

"So is this the way to gay equality? Overreacting to minor stuff nobody but other obnoxious gays care about? Oh yeah, stick with that. It's gonna work out just fine.

Or it's just going to become really annoying and off-putting."
-------------------
That is the same line told to blacks to know their place and wait their turn.

[cave mann35]

07:34 PM on 10/26/2010

how is an overreaction? By donating through his company and using his company's new freedom of speech rights, he's allegedly speaking for the company, yet I'm sure not everyone in his company agrees with his donations, his positions or his politics. No one is telling the LGBT community to wait and know their place. This article is about a group using their money to send a message, just as Rowlings used his money to send a message.

[brahdog]

04:20 AM on 10/27/2010

poster is quoting someone else

[carsntrucks]

05:12 PM on 10/26/2010

So is this the way to gay equality? Overreacting to minor stuff nobody but other obnoxious gays care about? Oh yeah, stick with that. It's gonna work out just fine.

Or it's just going to become really annoying and off-putting.

[Bob Kellerman]

05:15 PM on 10/26/2010

YES, YES, YES

OF COURSE THE GAYS SHOULD SHUT UP AND TAKE IT

Then they can do your wife's hair, arrange herflowers, and hold her hand when she complains you don't have love to give her, and teach your kids, and entertain you.

And you can keep deluding yourself

[MollieinATL]

08:38 AM on 10/28/2010

Over-reacting is a corporation giving $2 million dollars to a divisive political candidate or organization.

[Pearlswan]

04:55 PM on 10/26/2010

See what can happen to corporations that use corporate profits for political gains? Their bottom-line can be reduced by such action. This is precisely why they want to donate anonymously. They want to make their profits from groups and individuals they oppose and use the resources against their own customers in anonymity so that the customers don't realize their own money is being used to hurt them and to oppose their interests. Ouch! A double whammy! Its a dirty game. Buyer Beware!

[cave mann35]

07:35 PM on 10/26/2010

that was brilliantly put . . . I couldn't have said it any better! F&F!!

[Belthazar]

04:36 PM on 10/26/2010

As to not be hypocritical, then the next 'boycott' should be of the Fox TV show "Glee", which is promoted and discussed on many LGBT websites. I will go so far as to say even praised. The show is broadcasted by Fox Broadcasting, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (including Fox News), which in turn makes money for News Corp. Moreover, we know that Murdoch has donated millions to Republican organizations – as noted by Keith Olbermann – that are not favorable to gay rights.

[Bob Kellerman]

05:16 PM on 10/26/2010

There is no button for "flag as stupid and pointless"

[Belthazar]

05:41 PM on 10/26/2010

^^^ That is a clear indication (for all to see) when someone doesn't have a rational rebuttal to a argument. They (see above) delve into personal attacks as an distraction instead of addressing the point. That is classic "Tea Party Tactics" - not address the issue but distract.

If people are going to attack Gold's Gym Franchisees only because of the fact they they pay a fee to a CEO/Owner that has indirectly attacked Gay people, then Murdoch and the products and shows that make "him" money should face the same attack.

[Turtlenews]

07:19 PM on 10/26/2010

Fox News and all of fox is being boycotted

stopbeck.com

[Mirabai305]

04:36 PM on 10/26/2010

I wonder if there's any rule that they have to keep the name on the tin as long as they are paying the franchise fee. I wonder if, in announcing their intention to not renew the franchise, they can adopt a new name now while still bound by their contract to TRT.

[Truth789]

03:42 PM on 10/26/2010

Glad I don't go to Gold's Gym.......never will now.

[Angie Tyne 1]

03:27 PM on 10/26/2010

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. Say what you want but accept that you may not like the results.

[Turtlenews]

03:38 PM on 10/26/2010

As long as Golds is held accountable the results will be great

[mylittlepwny]

03:27 PM on 10/26/2010

So even gym membership is now politicised with golds being the gym of choice for republicans and any democrat seen exercising there will be ostracised by His/Her fellow democrats. Each of the major parties need to get a list going so that the sheep can know where to graze.

[boyer37212]

03:25 PM on 10/26/2010

This is especially confusing, since Rove goes to the YMCA for his "steam-room encounters."

[Joe Krumbach]

03:15 PM on 10/26/2010

Good for them! I hope they can get out of their contract with Gold's earlier than 2012.

[Turtlenews]

03:21 PM on 10/26/2010

If they do not get out of the contract . SF Golds ids going down