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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2009

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Manchester P R Agent Howard Bragman Speaks Out on Boycott Offer May 14, 2009

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Today's Bay Area Reporter Full Story!
 
By Seth Hemmelgarn     LINK:  Bay Area Reporter

It's not support for same-sex marriage, but a San Diego hotel owner that's been the focus of a long-running boycott because of his support of Proposition 8 apparently is trying to woo back his gay customers by donating $25,000 to promote civil unions.

The San Diego Union Tribune reported Friday, May 8 that Doug Manchester, chairman of the company that owns the Manchester Grand Hyatt and the Grand Del Mar in San Diego, would give "$25,000 to a national organization that promotes civil unions and domestic partnerships."

Manchester became the focus of an outpouring of anger last year when he gave $125,000 to help get Prop 8 on the ballot.

Manchester also was thinking about offering $100,000 in credit to local LGBT organizations so they could use the Grand Hyatt for fundraisers and other events, the paper reported.

Howard Bragman, a gay publicist who founded the firm 15 Minutes and is working with Manchester on this issue "as a consultant," said that Manchester's "giving $25,000 to an undetermined organization or organizations and $100,000 in-kind."

Manchester did not respond to a request for comment. Bragman confirmed that Kelly Commerford, director of marketing at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, originally made the announcement at the recent International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association convention in Toronto. Commerford didn't respond to a request for comment.

The labor union UNITE HERE Local 30, Californians Against Hate, and others launched the boycott last summer. Manchester made his contribution in January 2008, before the proposal to ban same-sex marriages in California qualified for the November ballot and became Prop 8. The measure passed in November.

In a statement about Manchester's proposal, Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, wrote, "Countless groups and individuals have canceled well over 100,000 room-nights. Over 12 large meetings and conventions have left the hotel ... At the Manchester Grand Hyatt alone, after just four months they said that they had lost $2.4 million. Now they are saying that over $7 million has been lost from the boycott. It's probably much higher."

Asked about Karger's statement, Bragman said, "We're not confirming any of that information." It's privately held property and "it's nobody's business," he said.

Brigette Browning, president of UNITE HERE Local 30, said in a statement, "An apology is too little, too late from Mr. Manchester, who consistently spoke in favor of Proposition 8 throughout the campaign. Further, his statement did not address the lack of job security and onerous housekeeper workload at the Manchester Hyatt that motivated the union to boycott the hotel in the first place."

Local 30's Dan Rottenstreich told the Bay Area Reporter that, "The boycott is on but we are open and willing to engage in a meaningful conversation about what it would take to end the boycott. We aren't going to trade our civil rights for hotel vouchers."

According to 15 Minutes' Web site, Bragman's record spans more than two decades of AIDS/HIV activism, LGBT rights, and other causes.

Asked about working with Manchester, Bragman said, "I'm tired of being the whipping boy. When I get involved with a client, it's to build a bridge. The reason we, the gay community, lost Proposition 8 was because we did not build enough bridges to outside groups. In the case of Doug Manchester, we have a man who acknowledged his mistake. He apologized, and he has committed no more money against gay marriage, and in fact, he has committed an equal amount in favor of legal domestic partnerships and civil unions. In other words, this man is trying to build a bridge."

As for whose idea it was to offer the money to support civil unions and domestic partnerships, Bragman said, "I don't think that matters. Ultimately, it's Mr. Manchester's decision, right?"

© This Week In Texas


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