They told Glenn Reynolds that if George Bush were re-elected, people would be hounded out of their jobs for supporting unpopular political causes. And they were right!
CMT artistic director quits in fallout from Prop. 8 supportGet over yourselves, people.
California Musical Theatre's artistic director, Scott Eckern, resigned from his post today amid controversy over a donation he made to the Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage.
Eckern gave $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, a donation that sparked criticism from theater workers and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
[...]
Eckern said that he "honestly had no idea" that the contribution would spark such outrage and made the donation to act on his belief as the traditional definition of marriage be preserved.
"I support each individual to have rights and access, and I understand that in California domestic partnerships come with the same rights that come with marriage," he said.
Eckern said his sister is a lesbian in a committed relationship and he loves her and is supportive of her and her family, just as she is of him and his family.
"I definitely do not support any message or treatment of others that is hateful or instills fear," he said. "This is a highly emotional issue and the accusations that have been made against me are simply not true."
UPDATE: Well, at least someone recognizes that you don't get people fired over political differences:
Supporters rally behind departed theater directorGood for them. I'm on the opposite side of the issue from Mr. Eckern, but people should not be punished for simply disagreeing with me on a political issue.
More than 100 people gathered outside the Music Circus today to support Scott Eckern, the theater director who resigned amid controversy over his donation to support the ban on same-sex marriage.
Carrying signs that read "You Made a Circus Out of Freedom" and "A Sad Day for Sacramento Theater," supporters from throughout the region showed up for the hastily arranged rally.
More than that, I'm getting really pissed off by people being too quick to throw around the word "bigot". It's not helpful to the cause (as a practical matter), it's not fair to the people whose only concern is a quaint notion of "marriage" (yet don't discriminate against gays and actively support gays having all the legal rights of marriage but are hesitant to grant the word), and it's grievously unfair to equate gay marriage with Jim Crow.
You want to equate the gay life before the Stonewall riots with Jim Crow? Fine, that's fair enough.
Want to compare the Brown case to the Lawrence case? A bit more of a stretch, but be my guest.
But please don't try to tell me that allowing all (or nearly all) of the legal rights of marriage, but not allowing the word for religious reasons, is morally equivalent to lynchings.
5 comments:
Yeah, I've learned not to enter into that conversation with Bill. It's a sore point with him, and one which he uses to always label opponents as bigots. Sooner or later, you get tired of being shat on.
I look at this as somewhat equivalent to the Dixie Chicks spouting off about George Bush overseas and then coming home to the shock that their largely conservative country music fanbase was burning their CDs and calling for a boycott of their music. People were threatening to do the same thing in this case - boycott. I'll agree with you that a lot of people are really going overboard when it comes to this Prop. 8 stuff and far too many are using ridiculously loaded language, but Eckern took a dump where he ate when he made his views public. And for him to say he "honestly had no idea" people would be upset? He's either being stupid or obtuse. I may not think the guy deserves to be fired for his opinions, but I've every right to express mine by not paying money at a theater as long as he's in charge.
I look at this as somewhat equivalent to the Dixie Chicks spouting off about George Bush overseas
I would agree if he has said nasty, hateful things about gays but as far as I can tell from several SacBee stories, he didn't. He seems to support full equality and acceptance for gays except for the word "marriage". That strikes me as being more akin to getting kicked out of the party for disagreeing on one plank of the platform.
Well, that fat Dixie Chick didn't initially say anything hateful, either. All she said was that she was ashamed to come from the same state as George Bush. Eckern can't say he supports "full" equality and then make an exception. It's not full equality if they don't have all the same rights. If people were calling for his house to be burned down or something, it would be one thing. They're simply exercizing their right to vote with their wallets. My bigger point was that it was probably more of a financial decision than a political one. The theater was facing a boycott that would lose them revenue and a decision was made to prevent that. This is a *huge* issue for the gay community, not just some minor disagreement.
I know it's a big issue. But it's a big issue for people on the other side too, including people of good will who have no religious (or other) objection to all but that last part.
And I REALLY hate to see potential good will squandered on hissy fits. It's not productive, it's actually damaging. There are, I hear, plans to bring another inititative to the ballot by 2010. I'd like to see it pass and I don't like to see people sabotaging its chances by attacking (or boycotting) someone who sounds like he might actually be persuaded.
And I've said it before, I'll say it again, if gays and their political organizations want full legal equality and acceptance, they'll put a muzzle, or at least a short leash, on the nutjobs.
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