Gay hotel owners apologize for hosting Ted Cruz event

[pixy0stix]

The problem with following party lines without researching the candidate I guess.

onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/04/27/ted-cruz-gay-marriage-hoteliers-apologize/
________________

Two gay New York businessmen who hosted a recent dinner for Ted Cruz apologized to the gay community, saying it was a “terrible mistake” because of the GOP presidential hopeful’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

Ian Reisner, in a Facebook message posted Sunday night, said he has been upset by the backlash he’s received from gay men and lesbians, who called for a boycott of The Out NYC hotel and Fire Islands Pines businesses run by Reisner and his business partner, Mati Weiderpass.

Reisner and Weiderpass hosted Cruz for a dinner and “fireside chat” on April 20 that was first reported by The New York Times. Weiderpass had posted a picture on Facebook of himself with Cruz, a Texas senator. The Out NYC, a hotel near Times Square run by Reisner and Weiderpass, caters to a gay clientele, and Fire Island has long been a gathering place and vacation spot for gay men and lesbians.

“I am shaken to my bones by the e-mails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days. I made a terrible mistake,” Reisner wrote on Facebook. “I was ignorant, naive and much too quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights.”

Weiderpass also issued an apology via Facebook. “Unfortunately, I cannot undo this,” he said. “Today, I came to realize that I might have nullified my past efforts and accomplishments in just one week.”

The expressions of remorse by two of New York’s most prominent gay businessmen come as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments Tuesday in cases regarding same-sex marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

Cruz had expressed surprise that The New York Times “considers it newsworthy that a Republican who believes marriage is between a man and a woman would meet with people who hold a different view.” In a separate statement, he also touted legislation he introduced that would bar federal courts from ruling on state marriage laws and a proposed constitutional amendment stating marriage is between a man and a woman.

As for the “fireside chat” hosted by Reisner and Weiderpass, Cruz said the meeting was primarily devoted to national security, foreign policy and U.S. relations with Israel. “On the subject of marriage, when asked I stated directly and unambiguously what everyone in the room already knew, that I oppose gay marriage and I support traditional marriage,” the senator said.

[ESF]

HOW DID THEY NOT KNOW?

This whole thing is weird.

Ted Cruz is going to point to this as another example of how "Christians" and their supporters are persecuted and bullied by the pro-gay marriage side.

[tres3]

It is so hard being a Republican... no one wants to host your events, bands won't let you use their music as you come on stage....

[underwaterrhymes]

They knew.

There is no way they didn't.

But it was money in their pockets and so they turned a blind eye.

[LoveTrains]

I have a few very vocal friends on Facebook that are gay men in NYC and they have been posting about this a ton, calling for boycotts, rallies, etc.

I think those two businessmen knew but turned a blind eye.

[Skyesthelimit1212]

I'm confused, it was just the 3 of them at the "fireside chat?"

They should have lied and said we had this meeting with the hopes that we could persuade Ted Cruz into considering that his views may be hurtful and harmful to the gay community.

[LoveTrains]

Apr 27, 2015 12:19:20 GMT -5 Skyesthelimit1212 said:

I'm confused, it was just the 3 of them at the "fireside chat?"

They should have lied and said we had this meeting with the hopes that we could persuade Ted Cruz into considering that his views may be hurtful and harmful to the gay community.

No, I believe it was a fundraiser. 


www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/politics/at-new-york-reception-ted-cruz-is-said-to-strike-different-tone-toward-gays.html

ETA: Strike that, not a fundraiser but about a dozen people in attendance. 

[Skyesthelimit1212]

Apr 27, 2015 12:23:49 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Apr 27, 2015 12:19:20 GMT -5 Skyesthelimit1212 said:

I'm confused, it was just the 3 of them at the "fireside chat?"

They should have lied and said we had this meeting with the hopes that we could persuade Ted Cruz into considering that his views may be hurtful and harmful to the gay community.

No, I believe it was a fundraiser. 


www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/politics/at-new-york-reception-ted-cruz-is-said-to-strike-different-tone-toward-gays.html

ETA: Strike that, not a fundraiser but about a dozen people in attendance. 

Then I call BS.  There's no way they didn't know what he was about. If they didn't know before the agreed to the fundraiser you know as sure as hell they knew after they started advertising for it.  

[jln]

They most definitely knew.

[mbcdefg]

[UMaineTeach]

Apr 27, 2015 15:40:32 GMT -5 incogneato said:

So a couple of wealthy gay republican men decided to host a chat with Ted Cruz, because their desire for low corporate taxes and more money in their pockets is more important to them than gay rights, and the result was potentially a loss of money? Sounds like the perfect ending to me!

I think this illustrates how just because you are gay, you are not the same as every other gay person.

In a class once there was a speaker telling his coming out story. One thing he realized was that there was no warm, embracing "gay community" to welcome him into the fold. There were just other gay people, who were just people who happened to be gay. Some will be your friend and some won't, but just being gay isn't enough in common.

I think these guys are sad that they chased one pot of money and will now lose another pile.

[josieposy]

Oh they are lying like a rug.

[secretlyevil]

This is ridiculous.