Posted on 02/13/2009 10:23:31 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO — Former President Bill Clinton will likely cross a picket line when he delivers a keynote speech at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego on Sunday.
For several weeks, union officials and gay-rights activists behind a boycott of the hotel urged Clinton to cancel his appearance before the International Franchise Association – or at least move the address.
But a spokesman for the former president said Thursday that Clinton will keep his commitment to the trade group.
“He's obviously sympathetic to this cause,” Clinton spokesman Matthew McKenna said. “I don't think you can name a leader in the world who has done more to advance gay and lesbian issues.”
McKenna noted that Clinton campaigned against Proposition 8 last year and said that if the hotel or owner Doug Manchester had extended the invitation – rather than the trade group – Clinton would not have accepted.
Earlier Thursday, eight prominent supporters of organized labor and gay marriage, including San Diego City Councilman Todd Gloria, released an open letter to Clinton requesting that he call off or move the speaking engagement.
“Please do not violate our boycott,” it concludes.
“Please do not speak at the Manchester Hyatt.”
Some who signed the letter were unhappy when told of Clinton's decision.
“It's shameful and hypocritical that President Clinton wouldn't stand by his principles and honor two groups that he's historically supported – labor groups and gay rights,” said Brigette Browning, president of Unite Here Local No. 30, who co-signed the letter.
“I'm very surprised that he would put his corporate sponsors over basic human dignity,” she said.
Labor groups and opponents of Proposition 8, the ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California, organized a boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt after Manchester donated $125,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign. Manchester could not be reached Thursday.
Cleve Jones, a longtime gay-rights activist who founded the NAMES Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt, said he welcomed Clinton's help fighting Proposition 8 but was skeptical of the president's position.
“The boycott has been in effect and very well publicized since July,” said Jones, who also signed the letter. “He's had ample foreknowledge of the situation.”
Supporters of same-sex marriage plan to gather outside the hotel Sunday at 11 a.m. and remain there throughout Clinton's scheduled 12:30 p.m. speech.
A spokeswoman for the International Franchise Association said the convention was booked six or seven years ago. She said the trade group has no position on gay marriage or the planned rally.
“The boycott really is between the hotel and this group,” Alisa Harrison said. “It's not something we have a position on or that we've been involved in.”
Keynote speakers are typically booked up to a year in advance, according to Stacy Tetschner, chief executive of the National Speakers Association, a trade group for professional speakers.
Even though Clinton is a top-tier speaker likely to command a fee of $100,000 or more, he is considered a celebrity rather than a professional speaker because speaking is secondary to what he does, Tetschner said.
“More than likely, it's his handlers that accepted this rather than himself,” Tetschner said. “I don't know that the owner of a hotel's personal political beliefs or support is something they would normally research.”
McKenna said questions about when the speech agreement was reached and how much Clinton would be paid should be directed to the Harry Walker Speaking Agency, which represents the former president.
No one at the company's New York City offices answered a phone call Thursday evening.
Gay-rights leaders have also targeted other Yes on 8 contributors, including A-1 Self Storage owner Terry Caster, a San Diegan who gave almost $700,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign. Supporters of the measure say such donors are being unfairly targeted, and that opponents should accept the will of the majority.
Proposition 8 passed Nov. 4 with 52 percent of the vote, effectively overturning a May state Supreme Court ruling that permitted same-sex marriages in California.
The ballot measure has been challenged in court on multiple grounds, and oral arguments are scheduled before the state Supreme Court on March 5.
Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, a Los Angeles organization that promotes progressive political issues, said it's ironic Clinton would be involved in the debate over same-sex marriage, because Proposition 8 is being defended in court in part by Kenneth Starr, who 10 years ago built the case for impeachment against Clinton.
“Bill Clinton has done a lot of good,” said Jacobs, who also signed the open letter. But “there's a really big irony in this.”
NOTHING or NO ONE will stand between Bilge Clintoon and 100,000 bucks!
FMCDH(BITS)
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