San Diego's
glamorous Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel has seen better days.
The hotel, owned by local magnate Douglas Manchester,
is being boycotted for the second time in six months.
The
anti-Proposition 8 group Californians Against Hate
launched the first boycott (which is still
in effect) against Manchester's properties in
July, when news of his $124,000 donation to the
antigay Yes on 8 ballot initiative became public. Now a
new, separate boycott is looming.
Manchester has
again caught the ire of gays for his donation (this time
an LGBT group affiliated with labor issues); local unions
and Hyatt employees, for what they claim are unfair
labor practices at his hotel; and 300 members of the
National Communication Association -- an association
of collegiate speakers -- who object to their national
convention being held at the contentious Hyatt.
The second
boycott will be announced officially Friday at 10 a.m. at a
press conference in front of the hotel. Speakers will
include San Diego city councilman Todd Gloria, local
gay rights advocate Nicole Murray Ramirez, Carlos
Marquez of the organization Pride at work, Hyatt
housekeeping supervisor Lorena Gonzalez, and members of the
NCA.
In a press
release it was noted that the boycott is intended to
highlight the deep connections between labor struggles and
the gay rights movement.
After hearing of
the boycott by gays and union leaders, some NCA members
asked their group to relocate their meeting from the Hyatt,
but NCA refused. In response, members supportive of
the boycott organized an "UNconvention" at alternative
sites in San Diego.
"Since Prop. 8
passed it's become clear that we have to stand up to
those who would criminalize our relationships," says Dana
Cloud, a professor at the University of Texas at
Austin and an NCA member participating in the boycott.
"I'm supporting the boycott because in our country
we're forced to feel like second-class citizens. I'm
also part of this because of the participation of the
unions. The solidarity between the labor movement and
the gay rights groups is unprecedented... It
demonstrates that working people need the benefits and
rights that marriage allows." (Neal Broverman, The
Advocate)
