I work for the Courage Campaign
As Brian explained yesterday the movement to convince Bill Clinton to honor the Manchester Hyatt boycott this Sunday is growing rapidly. Today the Courage Campaign joined with Cleve Jones, who knows a thing or two about the relationship of boycotts to labor organizing and LGBT rights, to ask our hundreds of thousands of members to call upon Clinton to cancel his talk.
Bill Clinton has stated his intentions to give the talk in spite of the growing backlash. As Cleve Jones explained:
Cleve Jones, a longtime gay-rights activist who founded the NAMES Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt, said Clinton should have known he’d create controversy.
“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 the boycott plan to gather outside the hotel at 11 a.m. Sunday and remain throughout Clinton’s scheduled 12:30 p.m. speech.
The Courage Campaign has also joined with other key leaders such as Jess Durfee, chair of the San Diego County Democrats, Brigette Browning of UNITE HERE Local 30, and SD councilman Todd Gloria in signing the moveclintonspeech.info letter.
Clinton’s advisers argue that his opposition to Prop 8 last fall demonstrates his commitment to the marriage equality movement. But as we in California know, that movement has only grown since November 4, and we need our friends and allies to stand alongside us now more than ever.
Over the flip is the letter we and Cleve Jones sent to our members:
Dear Robert,
President Bill Clinton will be making a big mistake on Sunday. Unless we act now to stop him. Let me tell you why.
If you’ve seen the film “MILK”, you may know that I worked with Harvey Milk in the 1970s, including on a campaign to boycott Coors Beer for the company’s anti-gay hiring policies and belligerent stance in contract negotiations towards their workers.
The Coors Beer Boycott taught me an unforgettable lesson about the power of coalitions in the struggle for equality. That lesson is being replicated today in the successful Manchester Hyatt Boycott in San Diego.
To the the surprise of many, President Clinton is scheduled to give a paid speech this Sunday at the Manchester Hyatt to the annual convention of the International Franchise Association. To give this speech, President Clinton will have to violate a union boycott and labor dispute — the workers at the hotel lack job security and the housekeepers face onerous workloads.
But that’s not all. President Clinton will also be offending supporters of marriage equality, including myself. Doug Manchester, the owner of the hotel, contributed $125,000 in early seed money to the Proposition 8 campaign.
We can’t let this happen. President Clinton has the power to move his speech away from the Manchester Hyatt. And you have the power to convince him to do the right thing. Please sign the Courage Campaign’s petition to President Clinton immediately and we will do everything in our power to get your signatures to him ASAP:
http://www.couragecampaign.org…
It is ironic that, by showing up at the Manchester Hyatt on Sunday, President Clinton will provide comfort to Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund, who are now trying to defend the constitutionality of Prop 8 before the state Supreme Court. Doug Manchester’s significant $125,000 contribution to the “Yes on 8” campaign helped pass Prop 8 — money that made Starr’s case possible.
I think President Clinton should move his speech to another hotel in the area that treats its workers — and the LGBT community — with respect. If he doesn’t, he will see me, and likely many others, this Sunday on the sidewalk in front of the Manchester Hyatt.
That is exactly where Harvey Milk would want me — and you — to be. While you may not be able join us there, I hope you’ll add your signature right now and ask President Clinton to do the right thing before Sunday:
http://www.couragecampaign.org…
Thank you for helping the Courage Campaign and UNITE HERE build a broad-based coalition for equal rights and economic justice in California and across the country.
Cleve Jones
UNITE HERE