Pay Backs Are Hell

Over the last two days I have posted about the saga of Scott Eckern, the Mormon artistic director of the California Musical Theatre, who less than brilliantly gave $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, thereby causing a firestorm for the Theatre and putting it at risk of a boycott and loss of the right to use certain works. Today Eckern resigned his position after yesterday giving a less than convincing statement/apology to the gay community. Needless to say, the Christianists and Mormons will be wailing that Eckern is the victim of religious discrimination - of course their religious based discrimination against gays their interference with the CIVIL law rights of gays is just fine.

*

As is typical, the Christianists and Mormons (including a number of those who posted comments on the Sacramento Bee story) always want discrimination to be a one way street where they can discriminate and foster hate, but they are suppose to be treated with kid gloves and exempt from any consequences for their discriminatory actions. As for Eckern, WTF was he thinking when he made the contribution? Did he seriously think gays would not be upset and take it personally or is he simply an idiot? Personally, having been basically forced out of a law firm in the past since some of the "godly Christians" in the firm did not want a gay partner, it is nice to see the persecutors experience some blow back. Here are highlights from the Sacramento Bee:

*

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. "We have released a statement that Scott resigned," said Chris McSwain, community affairs director for the theater company. He declined to comment further.

*

Eckern also released a statement today saying that he quit "after prayerful consideration to protect the organization and to help the healing in the local theatre-going and creative 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.

*

Hopefully, Eckern will be the first of many to learn that discriminating against others due to one's intolerant religious beliefs can come back to bite one in the ass.

Why a Boycott of Utah and Mormon Businesses is Needed

UPDATED: Scott Eckern released a statement expressing shock over the backlash, saying "I had no idea this would be the reaction." I'm sorry, if he's that dense, the Theatere needs to fire him because he is a moron on the level of Sarah Palin. Otherwise he takes disingenuousness to a whole new plin. Did he really think gays would not be upset? The man's either a liar and a bigot or an idiot.

*

A number of activists and gay bloggers are discussing the need for a serious boycott of the state of Utah and Mormon owned business and/or businesses employing Mormons who contributed monetarily to the christo-fascist/Mormon anti-gay "Yes on 8" initiative. On the other side of the issue are gay bloggers who are wringing their hands like nelly queens and cautioning that (i) Utah has non-Mormon residents and Mormons who did not support Proposition 8, and (ii) gays should not appear to be "persecuting" a religion. While these concerns are valid to an extent, bullies only understand a strong response that takes the pain and repercussions to their own front yards. Thus, I continue to believe that interfering with the civil legal rights of others must have strong negative consequences. If a boycott impacts non-Mormons, hopefully it will cause further anti-Mormon antagonism which will provide yet a further deterrent to future LDS efforts to trample on the rights of others. Thus, the disingenuous whining from Mormon's that they are being singled out need to be ignored. The highest levels of the Mormon church issued the equivalent of an anti-gay fatwah and now this wrongful action needs to boomerang back at smack the Mormon church full in the face. The situation mentioned in a prior post involving the California Musical Theatre and its artistic director who was a "Yes on 8" contributor shows that a boycott might have the consequences sought. Here are highlights fro the Sacramento Bee:

*

Gay and lesbian artists called Monday for an artistic and audience boycott of California Musical Theatre after learning that its artistic director donated $1,000 to a campaign that backed banning gay marriage in California. Scott Eckern was not available for comment Monday as the revelation has gained stunning momentum on the blogosphere.

*

Richard Lewis, the organization's executive producer, said the board of directors will conduct an emergency meeting on the matter this afternoon. He said it was too early to tell how this would affect Eckern's 25-year employment with California Musical Theatre.

*

In a statement released Monday, Lewis said: "Any political action or the opinion of Scott Eckern is not shared by California Musical Theatre. We have a long history of appreciation for the LGBT community and are truly grateful for their longstanding support."

*

The theater site Broadwayworld.com has picked up the story, and the political antigayblacklist.com has published Eckern's name and professional affiliation along with those of others who made contributions.

*

In my view other businesses with "Yes on 8" contributors need to likewise be targeted so that the next time the senile leadership of the LSDS issues a fatwah, members will think twice before blindly following the directive like a bunch of mindless sheep. In this regard, antigaybalcklist.com provides another tool to identify businesses for boycott targeting. Named donors include dentists, attorneys, medical practices and other employers who need to be advised that their businesses' success have been potentially jeopardized by the bigotry of their employees.