Should a 96-Year-Old Proposition 8 Supporter Lose a Public Post? (enemy, spokesman, radical)
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Update | 2:39 p.m. Pacific Time Mayor Ron Dellums will pull from Tuesday night’s City Council agenda the reappointment of Lorenzo Hoopes and three others to the board of the city-owned Paramount Theater. The mayor is expected to make a decision on Mr. Hoopes’s reappoinment in the next week, said Paul Rose, a spokesman with the mayor’s office. “The community asked us to reconsider and that’s what we’re going to do,” Mr. Rose said.
Original Post 1:32 p.m. Pacific Time | It may seem like typical City Council fare — Tuesday night’s Oakland’s City Council addresses the reappointment of four board members of the Paramount Theater. But this routine agenda item has become anything but.
It’s a reminder that the reverberations of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, continue to echo not only in San Francisco federal court but throughout the Bay Area and the state.
Lorenzo Hoopes, 96, is a retired Safeway executive and the former president of the temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oakland. He currently serves as president of the Paramount’s 11-member board of directors, and, if reappointed, would stay on the board until 2013. He also donated $25,000 to the “Yes on 8″ campaign — more than any of the city’s opponents of same-sex marriage, The Oakland Tribune reported.
His support for Proposition 8 prompted protests from supporters of same-sex marriage. A Facebook group called “The Paramount — No Place for Homophobia” has been joined by more than 340 members since last Friday.
I spoke with Michael Colbruno, an Oakland planning commissioner who is a co-founder of the Facebook group. He said, “What has really got people angry now is that the reappointment is happening right at the time that the trial is going on.”
After the November 2008 vote, Web sites like Californians Against Hate and EightMaps used public data on political donations to identify supporters of the Yes on 8 campaign.
In the following months, there were boycotts — or at least snubs — of businesses owned by supporters of Proposition 8, including a long-running boycott of the Cinemark movie chain by the San Francisco Movie Bears.
There were high-profile resignations after the information on donors became public, including those of the Los Angeles Film Festival’s director and the artistic director of the California Musical Theater.
Mr. Colbruno says the outcry against Mr. Hoopes differs from other protests because the Paramount is owned by the city. “This is a public board that the taxpayers of Oakland pay for,” he said. “With Cinemark, that was a private donor in a private role. Hoopes is a private donor but in a public role. I think it’s a bit worse.”
For his part, Mr. Hoopes told The Oakland Tribune that he didn’t agree with his opponents, but “it’s their prerogative” to raise the issue of his support for Proposition 8.
Members of the Facebook group have debated if targeting donors like Mr. Hoopes is an act of intimidation. Proposition 8 supporters have continuously cited concerns for privacy, including asking to make donations anonymously and objecting to video coverage of the federal court case that was expected to appear on YouTube before the Supreme Court ruled against it.
The Tribune article reported that Mayor Ron Dellums was considering pulling Mr. Hoopes’s name from the list of board members to be reappointed. But if the mayor and the Council do decide to reappoint Mr. Hoopes, Mr. Colbruno said that a boycott of the Paramount was possible.
Apparently the only diversity that matters -- the diversity of personal beliefs and ideas -- is the one form of diversity that liberals will absolutely not tolerate.
Apparently the only diversity that matters -- the diversity of personal beliefs and ideas -- is the one form of diversity that liberals will absolutely not tolerate.
Apparently you have boundary issues right along with all those "yes on 8" supporters. Perhaps one day you'll see the line better. Live your life, don't try to live anothers.
Apparently you have boundary issues right along with all those "yes on 8" supporters. Perhaps one day you'll see the line better. Live your life, don't try to live anothers.
So much for these "boundary issues" that the majority of Americans have.
That's for the mayor to decide. You're not the mayor, are you?
LOL. How can the mayor decide when you have the radical homosexuals imposing their views?
The mean spirited, vindictive gay community is their own worst enemy. Attacking the 96 year old because he dare have his own feelings on the sanctity of marriage and your absolute politics of destruction of intolerance shows that you refuse to cede respect of others different of you -- exactly the thing you DEMAND of all others around you.
So much for these "boundary issues" that the majority of Americans have.
No one has the right, not even the majority <barring crisis national security>, to vote away someone else's rights.
I understand that have many been raised to believe gays and lesbians are inherent criminals, but secular law disagrees. Again, why can't the majority stay out of everyones bedroom? Isn't it inappropriate for any of us to be in each others bedrooms without an invitation? Boundary issues. Get out, and stay out. Be happy, mind your fence.
LOL. How can the mayor decide when you have the radical homosexuals imposing their views?
Huh? The mayor is in charge and makes the decision. What "radical homosexuals" of Oakland are imposing their views on Mayor Ron Dellums?
Quote:
The mean spirited, vindictive gay community is their own worst enemy. Attacking the 96 year old because he dare have his own feelings on the sanctity of marriage and your absolute politics of destruction of intolerance shows that you refuse to cede respect of others different of you -- exactly the thing you DEMAND of all others around you.
This is such a transparent attempt to smear homosexuals, it's almost funny. Your problem should be with the mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums. He's the one making the decision. Call him up and complain if this little issue bothers you so much.
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