First Anniversary of Boycott Against Doug Manchester

How much food can $125,000 buy to feed the hungry? How many books would it buy to help children? How much medicine can it buy to help the sick? How many better uses of $125,000 are there than using it to take away marriage equality from millions of Californians?

San Diego hotel owner and developer Doug Manchester must be asking himself these questions each and every day since the coalition of GLBT groups and labor came together one year ago this Gay Pride weekend to launch a boycott of Doug Manchester's two San Diego hotels: the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel and the Grand del Mar Hotel. (www.boycottmanchesterhotels.com) Manchester's good buddy Terry Caster persuaded him to give that enormous check on Jan. 18, 2008. Manchester's contribution provided enough money to hire a professional signature-gathering firm to begin collecting the 1.1 million signatures necessary to qualify Proposition 8 for the ballot. These two high-powered San Diego businessmen were two of the biggest contributors to Proposition 8. Caster, who owns A-1 Self Storage Company, ended up giving $693,000 to Proposition 8, and the coalition has boycotted his company too. (www.boycottA-1selfstorage.com)

Do these two bullies expect gays and lesbians and our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors and supporters to continue to patronize their businesses, only to have that money used against us? They sure got that wrong.

The Boycott of Doug Manchester's Grand Hyatt Hotel has cost him at least $7 million -- not a very good return on his investment. His flagship hotel is now a pariah. More than a dozen major conventions have canceled their meetings at his hotels, representing more than 100,000 room nights. There is really no telling how much business Manchester has lost the last year due to the boycott. The Manchester Grand Hyatt will forever suffer the stigma of its owner's $125,000 contribution.

Manchester has tried to buy his way out of the boycott twice. Ten days after the boycott began, he offered up money, but did not include any labor component in his "settlement" offer.

Then, in February, he hired gay Los Angeles publicist Howard Bragman, after an incredible new round of bad publicity: Former President Bill Clinton was forced to honor a speaking engagement at the boycotted property, resulting in international news stories that drew even more attention to the beleaguered hotelier.

Bragman's PR plan tried to circumvent boycott organizers by offering $100,000 in hotel credits to San Diego GLBT groups so that they would hold fundraisers at the boycotted hotel. That dumb idea of "divide and conquer" backfired with another round of bad press. No one would accept their blood money. They couldn't even find an organization to take the additional $25,000 in cash they offered to a national GLBT group, because the community is unified like never before and backs this boycott.

They chose to announce their offers before the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association's annual meeting in Toronto, Canada, in May. That announcement, by Manchester's Marketing Director Kelly Commeford, backfired, too, when he was booed and hissed off the stage at the Hyatt-sponsored luncheon. It triggered another round of bad press for Manchester, and a lot more publicity about the boycott. At least half of the attendees were from out of the county and had not heard of it until Kelly's speech.

Now we enter year two of our partnership with labor and with so many more new allies in our fight for full equality.

We will soon be announcing our new and exciting plans for year two of the Manchester Boycott.

The gay and lesbian community is in the fight of our life, and we are not going to take it anymore. We want the world to know who supports us and who opposes us. Then consumers can make informed choices on where to spend their hard-earned dollars. We at Californians Against Hate will continue to ask them not to support these two mega donors to Proposition 8, which yanked away our brand new freedom to marry on Nov. 4 last year.

Visit our Web sites, and spread the word. Thank you one and all for making these boycotts so successful. We will continue to fight for our civil rights using our immense economic clout. We will no longer settle for being second-class citizens. Those days are over.

Orriginally Published in the GLT, San Diego

Comments

[Paulied]

Fred, you are my hero!

[gaywhitedude]

It really bothers me that a group who wants to stop hate, is promoting hate, against a whole religion (Mormons) yes most of them are what you say but like any other religion I'm sure not all walk lockstep with the church(the Pope's againist abortion so should all pro abortion groups boycott all cathlic's?) Please be carefull grouping a religion as all in all are at fault, I know I don't always agree with my GLBT friends and family! I think boycotts are a great way to make a point, but lets go for the persons who are the bigots who do things against us or indivisuals. How about a real list of local, state and national boycotts and why they are on the list more info more resaults. We need a list of those who change and now show they have changed.

[marxmarv]

First, you need to learn about Mormons. They do tend to follow instructions from their mullahs with little question, and if their mullahs call for money to get a stinky initiative passed, the laity produces.

Second, you need to understand that "just following orders" went out of fashion as an excuse decades ago.

Third, you need to understand that demanding accountability from the executives of a religious franchise is not hate and is not hating the laity.

Finally, you need to understand that if a religious organization strictly demands a 10% tithe from their adherents, that achieving the goal of defunding a church whose actions are incompatible with freedom of religion in a secular society requires that you not patronize those businesses owned by the laity.

[BeninOakland]

No, it is not ime to boycott Hyatt hotels. Hyatt has always been very gay friendly. The relationship between hotels, owners, chains ,reservations systems etc is very complicated. For example, some hotels are Brand X hotel because they use X's reservations system, but are not owned by X.

Thre boycott of manchester's hotels is quite proper. boycotting Hyatt at this pointis not.

[antaeus]

No, rather It is not the time for Hyatt to be maintaining its Manchester relationship, however tenuous and accidental you imagine it. The only "complication" here is your attempt to obfuscate the reality of an intact corporate relationship.

Hyatt: Don't Buy It

[LeeCalif]

Manchester is on to bigger and much more profitable things....


Welcome to the Navy Broadway Complex project website, your location to review environmental documents that have been prepared and get up-to-date information regarding the potential environmental impacts of the proposed action. This website is a key public outreach tool that has been used in the environmental assessment process for the Navy Broadway Complex proposed action. This website is scheduled to be taken off-line effective September 30, 2009.

Thank you for your comments on the Navy Broadway Complex environmental assessment. The public comment period ended on November 2, 2008. All public comments were considered in the Navy’s decision-making process. The final environmental assessment, including appendices and responses to all comments received on the draft environmental assessment, can be viewed in the info library tab above, on this website. On April 27, 2009, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was signed by the Navy, indicating that the proposed action, implementation of the existing Development Agreement between the Navy and the City of San Diego, will not have a significant effect on the human environment, and thus that the proposed action does not warrant preparation of an environmental impact statement.

The final environmental assessment is available for review in the City of San Diego Central Library at 820 E Street, San Diego California 92101, and on this website.

Here's the whole article ......
It includes earthquake danger cover-ups
http://www.10news.com/news/20094645/detail.html

[Jim Michael]

Kudos to Fred Karger and everyone involved in this important civil rights action. Does everyone remember that some in the LGBT community initially came out against this boycott as misguided and probably ineffective. How wrong they were and how prescient Mr. Karger was (is.) While the $7,000,000 in lost revenue is substantial, I suspect it pales in comparison to the loss in the asset value of property itself. I wonder if either the San Diego Port Commission or the Hyatt Corporation are investigating Manchester's mismanagement of both the corporate license or the loss of rental income on the public property on which the hotel sits. Fortunately for Manchester his company isn't controlled by shareholders, who by now would have walked him out of his hotel and on to the street.

[tbone99]

Is the Manchester grand Hyatt a franchise ? If so perhaps it is time to boycott all Hyatts - so that a little pressure can be brought to bear from that direction.

Kudos to you and the GLBT groups leading the way ensuring civil rights for all Americans!

[LargeJ]

Doug Manchester built and owns the building. It is just a franchise. Hyatt's only association with Manchester is there. Do not boycott all Hyatts...t­hey have already distanced themselves from this controversy and are not happy that their name is connected with Mr. Manchester.

[antaeus]

Since when is a franchise agreement a covenant? True "distancing" would be to end the relationship.

[noamjunior]

The one aspect Fred Karger left out in this excellent update on the Manchester Boycott is his own tireless work and dedication to this cause. Fred has been organizing and networking since the passage of H8 and behalf of all Americans concerned with civil rights-I thank him

[PatA]

I salute you! Now let's go after the Mormons!

[floridafun]

thanks for sharing this info! i am on your side and look forward to the overturn of prop 8. we must all work for equality, many of us who are straight are fighting for you too!

[RaderBarbarian]

In this day and age, it is very important that all conscientious citizens take a cue from President Richard Milhous Nixon the Horrid and maintain their own personal Enemies List. I have mine, and I update it regularly and share each update with my entire social network. The list is long but it is not difficult to adhere to it. It isn't as if there is anything in the world for which a substitute cannot be found quite easily whether manufactured, operated or owned by the people on my list. For example, I have never - nor have the 212 people on my social network spent a single dime in the state of Utah. In fact, I will not even communicate with anyone in the state, including other gay people. If they have any self-respect whatsoever, they would not be there - bottom line. Better to be a homeless person on the streets of San Diego than a resident of that god-forsaken place! The latest addition to my list? The "State of No Integrity", South Carolina. My neighbor's son was going to visit an aunt who lives there. After hearing my tirade about how hypocritical the citizens of that state are - not just the politicians, but the citizens who elect them - my neighbor has decided not to permit her son to visit there and has told his aunt why. That little decision cost the state of South Carolina about $700, she told me. Personal boycotts work! Do it!

[PhilipB]

Thank you! Thank you for standing up for me and my family, and letting the world know of businesses that would strip away rights by their donations; it is not just being married, but all the rights denied to my family which relegates us to second class citizenship. I believe that good people believe in fairness, and I am heartened that so many would stand by my family who has been victimized, and show their displeasure to hate by public censure and boycotts.
I cannot express my thanks enough to you, and people out there whom I have never met around the world who say" You know, on our San diego vacation, we do not need to stay at the "hate hotel".
Thank you for recognizing my family as good people, and showing people who would hate me and my family that we do not have to patronize places of business which actively work to discriminate and hate.
Bless you.

[FLRealist]

I keep a list of anti-gay companies and have boycotted them for years. It drives my husband crazy 'cause he's had to change reservations, return items he purchased, etc. over the years. I've always written a polite letter (never have received a reply), but I'm trying!

Good luck with the boycott!

[hardcorelib]

Now - can we start the main campaign against the Mormon church? They have endless tithe money to spend discriminating against gay people and own hundreds of businesses. They are the main blockade to equality for gays and lesbians. We need to use our money!

[walks]

let us not forget the half million lump sum from focus on the family!!!! they deserve a whole lot more attention than they have gotten.

[S1m0n]

True, but they *did* have to lay off staff shortly after this, because of a budget crunch. No doubt that half million would have made a large difference to their solvency.

[noamjunior]

Fred Karger is actually a leading figure in the fight to hold the Mormon church accountable for unethical and possibly illegal practices associated with their effort to pass prop H8

[pfrogger]

Bravo!!!
Let the bigots and haters reap what they have sown.
Keep up the pressure and never let down. Equal rights and freedom are at stake.

It's sad that gay people tend to have bigger b@lls than straight people. I am embarrassed that the gay community is doing what the straight community could not for equal rights.
Keep up the good fight. And know that many straight people are behind you.

[PlaceboStudman]

We need to start holding boycotts like this in other cities too. Starting with Salt Lake City, Utah, and DFW Texas where the two recent kissing couples were arrested. We need to find out the major corporate sponsorship of the oppoents in the Maine marriage equality fight, and we need to start to put pressure on New York to pass their pending Marriage Equality law, or face a boycott.

We've all seen how money can talk, and congress doesn't seem to listen, no matter how loud we scream as we take away their campaign donations, so we need to go after the corporate sponsors of those congresspersons who oppose us, and boycott the companies that support segregation and discrimination

And we need to start doing this....IM­MEDIATELY