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August 19, 2008

Manhunt Chair Steps Down for Donating to McCain

The chairman of popular gay dating website Manhunt has stepped down after allegations that he had maxed out in campaign contributions for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Jonathan Crutchley was reported to have donated $2,300 to the McCain campaign. Manhunt founder Larry Basile confirmed in a statement obtained by Towleroad.com Friday that Crutchley stepped down once subscribers learned about the donations.

In the statement posted on Towleroad.com, Basile said that while he has been an avid activist for liberal causes and has donated regularly to Democratic contender Barack Obama, Crutchley's support for McCain "left the board in disbelief. I am disappointed that we have lost some customers, and I understand the anger. It is too bad for the website if we lose customers, but please never refer to me as a Republican. I consider it an offense." (The Advocate)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Name: John
Date posted: 2008-08-24 2:07 PM
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

Comment:

Crutchly and Manhunt have both made foolish decisions. I strongly support his right to donate to whomever he wants, however. There are many reasons not to give money to Manhunt, an his supporting McCain is the least of them. The most telling insight here is the response of Manhunt, Crutchly and Basile. It seems clear that they are more than willing to compromise their own integrity for money. The right thing to do would have been for Crutchly to support and stand firmly behind his position--regardless of whether or not he resigned. Additionally, Basile should have first supported Crutchly's rights and strongly. If he wanted to clarify his own position as a democrat, that's fine, but let's not lie for profit. Of course, Manhunt is already a seedy and disgusting enterprise. I suppose someone is going to run such a business while there is profit to be made. Expecting those people to be upstanding is a bit of a joke though. Some people will do anything for money.

Name: John
Date posted: 2008-08-24 2:04 PM
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

Comment:

Name: Danny Boghen
Date posted: 2008-08-21 7:02 PM
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

Comment:

What if a member of the "board" at Coca-Cola, or Starbucks, or Costco, or Budweiser, or the company you work for, made a contribution to the Republican Party and John McCain? Would you boycott their products or quit? Probably not, and yet you have contributed your "gay" or "non-gay" dollars to them. Manhunt is a company that, being gay-owned and geared towards the gay community and interests, should probably be all that more careful of their political contributions and thus affiliations. However, corporate America has your money and, if they are allowed to spend and contribute at will, then everyone should have that right. Stupid move? Yes. A little condemnation? O.K. All out boycott? No.

Name: Joe
Date posted: 2008-08-19 7:41 AM
Hometown: Chicago, IL

Comment:

I am no McCain fan either, but Obama has no plans to help out our community. He keeps associating himself with hate mongers and the media gives him a pass. He has credit card company executives, oil company advisors and energy company executives on his board of advisors. Credit card executives who want to continue to squeeze every penny out of us and get assistance from our governmet, oil executives who make obscene amounts of money and claim they can't do anything about the price of gas and energy executives who benefit from legislation Obama waters down for them. At least with McCain and Hillary we know what we were getting. This guys got the wool pulled over our eyes and we punish anyone who disagrees.

Name: Joseph
Date posted: 2008-08-19 3:22 AM
Hometown: Montgomery, AL

Comment:

Well, hey while we're at it guys, don't forget that Obama isn't all that great for the LGBT community either. The SOB just reminded us all that HE thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman, that it's a part of God's plan. And you idiots really think that Obama's going to go to bat for the LGBT community, especially after his SUPPORT of the FISA compromise? Please. I'm no fan of McCain's but I haven't seen Obama doing too much to go out of his way in support of the LGBT community. This is the same man who PERSONALLY brought in Donnie McClurkin for that little tour of South Carolina last year to get the Black Evangelicals (after Obama learned of McClurkin's views, he claimed to not know them; he only wanted McClurkin because of his popularity among Black Evangelicals). There's a saying, "Better the devil you know". We've survived the Bush administration. We can survive a McCain administration as well.

Name: Roger Euchler
Date posted: 2008-08-18 8:49 PM
Hometown: Long Beach, Calif.

Comment:

I hate republicans and everything they stand for. I have disassociated myself from those people who once were friends were found out to be of that ilk. They have that right, but not around me and not in association with me. They will be held accountable. That's what republicans hate more than anything...accountability. Their kind aren't wanted here. They and several commenters here hate that idea. HOW's IT FEEL? I repeat, "Your kind aren't wanted here!" Something that I have heard from republicans my entire life. Yeah, yeah, yeah they have that right. Just as I to not have anything to do with them. They are not welcome in my house, I will not share space or time with them. I will not break bread with them. Don't like it? How's it feel?! Good for MH for getting rid of their garbage.

Name: mike
Date posted: 2008-08-18 6:06 PM
Hometown: Denver

Comment:

Crutchley is free to do whatever he wants with his own money and he is free to support whichever presidential candidate he chooses. HOWEVER, when someone makes his fortune off of his gay brothers, and then turns around and donates the maximum amount allowed to a presidential candidate who belongs to a party that actively forms policy and an agenda based on marginalizing, scapegoating and demoralizing the GLBT community. We, the community, are also free to take our money elsewhere -and that is exactly what is happening. Crutchley wasn't asked to resign for being republican...he was asked to resign for doing something (stupid) that hurt the mulit-million dollar business that is Manhunt. Besides, there is no proof that he is still not making money off of the site...being founder of MH, I'm sure he is still somehow on the payroll.....he's just not getting any more of MY money.

Name: BW
Date posted: 2008-08-18 4:03 PM
Hometown: Cleveland

Comment:

Those of you who cancel your memberships to Manhunt, in order to avoid being hypocritical, should investigate all the places/people to whom you give your money (music & movie studio executives, actors, musicians, doctors, retail store execs, etc). But none will do that, I'm sure. This one just happened to be made public, so now people are all abuzz. I'm not saying you shouldn't react in this manner, but just pointing out the inconsistencies in many people's beliefs when compared to their actions. It is, definitely, still a country where we can act as we wish, and so far, it's without any "official" suppression. Manhunt does have the right to limit comments on its own site. Remember, though, the opposers have many other outlets where their views can be expressed. Be thankful for that!

Name: Gay Rodeo Announcer
Date posted: 2008-08-18 3:34 PM
Hometown: Scottsdale

Comment:

Okay folks... while I do not personally have an account with Manhunt, I know many who do. Regardless, if an employee of a company chooses to support a candidate I dont care for, should I really care? My bf of 5 years will more than likely be voting for McCain. Basically our votes cancel each other out. Such is life. He is still my bf... we just have different political viewpoints. Now if the corporation I am doing business with chooses to support someone's political views I dont agree with, I then feel it is appropriate for me to determine if I want my money to support that corporation.. or choose to change my business to a corporation who does support my views. but the individual employee should not matter... that means I should quit my job because I dont support McCain, but my CEO does. Not real logical.

Name: Unicorn Escobedo
Date posted: 2008-08-18 3:07 PM
Hometown: San Francisco

Comment:

To me it is all about ‘spin control’ now. Personally I want to know how come the nightly news and others have not picked up the story of McCain ACCEPTING money from a Gay Sex Site. What the hell, I mean when the ‘Log Cabin’ group gave money years ago, it was front page news and on the nightly news that that Republican who received the money had given it back. However with this McCain stuff, ‘I’ ONLY see Gays doing anything. Where the hell is the straight press. Why is this guy, Jonathan Crutchley, and Manhunt itself not getting hit from the straight side? I say fair is fair, let them take their lumps from both sides… the Gay community and the straight bigoted right wing conservative, I do it behind closed doors where my wife is the Dom and I’m the submissive. FAIR if FAIR, give Manhunt the boot from both sides.

Name: JB
Date posted: 2008-08-17 4:33 PM
Hometown: Dallas

Comment:

Larry Basile, Please cancel my membership immediately!!!! Refund me the prorated days left on the contract. You, Jonathan Crutchley, and I can support whichever political party we prefer. However, in your response to Crutchley's contributions to the Republican party, you decided to save-face with the Democrats but chose to offend the Republicans by saying, "please never refer to me as a Republican. I consider it an offense." Larry, as the founder of a company, I would think you would be smarter. Your comment was stupid and inconsiderate. Hire a PR firm to construct your responses and you might be able to retain customers. You deserve to lose every Republican customer. As a poor decision maker, you deserve to lose every customer. Rome's arrogance and stupidity led to their downfall. Manhunt is a social site - not a political forum. I would not have registered had I known I would be getting your personal political views.

Name: James
Date posted: 2008-08-17 1:43 AM
Hometown: Tampa

Comment:

Whether my personal opinion agrees or doesn't agree with Mr. Crutchley, he should certainly have the right to support financially or in any other way, anyone he wishes to support without fear of retribution. If customers of Manhunt choose to leave over this, then "good by, you are the weakest link". PLEASE!!!! The complainers need to get over themselves and stop acting like everyone needs to fall into line or suffer their retribution. There's no unity in that approach. We need to celebrate our differences and the balance that brings. Customers can come and go for all manner of reasons. Our personal freedoms, and those of Mr. Crutchley, should not be handled in such a hap-hazard manner. It's one-sided and definitely the wrong message no matter how you look at it.

Name: rgm
Date posted: 2008-08-16 12:16 PM
Hometown: wdc

Comment:

Of course Crutchley is free to donate to whomever he supports. Do not feel for his loss of “employment” as a founder of Manhunt he is still collecting his share of the profits. He simply no longer holds the title of chairman. It is not the same as being fired. If you disagree with his support for McCain and the Republicans and you are funding his enterprise by using his gay hook up site, by all means take your money elsewhere. Perhaps Mr. Crutchely will have the last laugh if McCain wins. I would caution him to consider what two new Supreme Court justices could mean to his bottom line. I am sure there are many on the right who view Manhunt as obscene and pornographic and would be all to happy to apply the Miller test to his site. While pornographers have generally been protected under the first amendment this could easily be changed with a solid conservative majority on the court.

Name: Dan
Date posted: 2008-08-16 12:02 PM
Hometown: Austin

Comment:

Even though Crutchley has stepped down, I still don't know where the other board members stand. They have a right to support whoever they want, but I have a right to know if they support a candidate who would harm me. McCain opposes nondiscrimination legislation, so he could be instrumental in my losing my job for purely discriminatory reasons. Granted, the Log Cabin Republicans have helped bring a New York anti-bullying bill closer to a Senate vote. But McCain is no Log Cabin Republican. If I help support Manhunt, does a chunk of my money still go to the McCain campaign? Let's get to the bottom of this issue, so we can be more informed consumers.

Name: Ryan Rollinson
Date posted: 2008-08-15 9:12 PM
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Comment:

Manhunt is also deleting accounts of people who disagree with their policies; my account was deleted when I tried to add the phrase "Do you know where your money's going? And does McCain know where it's coming from?" to my ad. It has since been reinstated after I spoke with a sympathetic supervisor at Manhunt Customer Service, but the entire experience has left me soured on Manhunt in general. I certainly won't be renewing my membership there, and I'm doing my best to spread the word about the politics of Manhunt's founder. While Basile may not be a Republican, the fact that he and the remainder of Manhunt's board allowed someone who is obviously against LGBT rights and causes to profit off of the business frankly sickens me. Deleting the accounts of people who have the gall to publicly express their unhappiness with your service just seems, to me, to be bad business... people have the right to know (even if they don't care) about where their money is going.

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