Chris Butcher points out that the owner of San Diego’s Manchester Grand Hyatt made a substantial donation to efforts to pass Proposition 8, which would confine marriage in California to heterosexual couples. I guess that Hyatt property won’t be offering any honeymoon packages to same-sex couples either.
“The group’s message Thursday was to urge residents and tourists to stay at other hotels. The boycott call comes at the height of the summer and just one week before the start of the 2008 Gay Pride festivities in San Diego, during which 200,000 attendees are expected to attend, according to festival organizers.”
July is a good month for gay nerds in San Diego.
I’m not sure what I would do if I were going to the comic convention and had made a reservation at the Hyatt. I like to think I’d cancel my reservation and try to find other lodgings, but who knows if that’s even possible at this point? If at all possible, I try to do research in advance so I know that I’m not giving my money to a narrow-minded bigot. In this case, given the timing of the donation and the scarcity of lodging, I think I’d probably have to lump it. I know the climate in San Deigeo is supposed to be lovely, but I’m just not a camper.
Just out of curiosity, and knowing that the hospitality industry tends to be one of the gay-friendlier segments of the economy, I thought I’d see if I could dig up Hyatt’s non-discrimination policy:
“In addition, Hyatt abides by local equal employment opportunity policy to assure that all personnel related actions are administered without regard to race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, mental or physical disability or any other group protected by law.”
And I looked into their domestic partner benefits policy, which is quite inclusive.
I wonder what corporate policy is in regards to franchisees and their business practices, and how stringently they expect individual hotel owners to adhere to corporate policy? I doubt it would apply to a private donation made by someone who just happens to be a franchise owner, but I can’t imagine Hyatt is happy with the publicity.
