Gay chamber takes issue with HRC’s participation in boycott of Arizona

By Glenn Gullickson

The local gay chamber is at odds with the Human Rights Campaign over HRC’s participation in a boycott of Arizona prompted by SB1070, the state’s new immigration law.

The Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is encouraging its members to re-evaluate their support for HRC, according to Joseph Gesullo, vice chair of the Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Gesullo said he has resigned as co-chair for next year’s Phoenix HRC dinner after HRC refused to drop the boycott or revise its wording. He said the boycott statement “wasn’t detailed properly,” leaving the impression of a broad boycott of the state. “HRC threw this thing together and didn’t do the research,” Gesullo said.

At issue is what the boycott means to HRC, a civil rights organization working for LGBT equality that claims 750,000 members and supporters nationally.

HRC and 22 other LGBT groups called for a boycott of Arizona to protest SB1070 in June. The statement said that the groups are joining the boycott of the state until SB1070 is overturned, but didn’t give specifics about how the boycott is to be implemented.

Confusing messaging

Kathy Young, Phoenix HRC area representative and member of the national board of governors, acknowledged that “the messaging is very confusing.” But she said that the HRC boycott is not a call to action for LGBT Americans to avoid the state.

Young said a statement from the national HRC posted on the Phoenix group’s Web site on June 16 clarifies that the boycott is limited only to bringing in outside conferences and meetings to Arizona. It also notes that HRC did not have any meetings planned in the state.

That message does not appear on the national HRC Web site. The way Gesullo sees it, HRC could send the clarification to HRC members in the frequent e-mails that are delivered from the group’s headquarters. Young said HRC leaders are reluctant to do that because it would bring more attention to the boycott.

Gesullo said HRC “is trying to fix what they did with this little Band-aid.” He said HRC should go back to the organizations joining the boycott statement and rework its wording.

“I feel like they’re grandstanding and getting into things that they shouldn’t be,” Gesullo said of the HRC. “The chamber will not support HRC in any way until this is resolved.”

Gesullo said the issue came to a head during a conference call between 17 local chairs and three national HRC leaders last month when his request for a revision in the boycott’s wording was refused.

He said during the conference call local HRC leaders “stayed in line with the national leader. Every single one of them agreed to let this go, and not talk about it. No one would stand up and say ‘You’re putting us in a really bad spot for Arizona.’”

Chamber asks end to HRC donations

The chamber has asked its more than 450 member businesses to consider ending contributions to HRC and to refrain from supporting the annual fundraising dinner by not donating items for the silent auction or purchasing tickets. Money raised at the dinner goes to the national organization, which allocates funds back to local groups.

Gesullo said he’s heard that people are sending checks to HRC for $0 with “boycott” written in the memo line. He said a campaign on Facebook also discouraged donations.

Young acknowledged that some donors have stopped sending their regular HRC contributions.

Young said that she heard nothing from the community about the boycott until stories about Gesullo’s objections started appearing in the media, including the The Arizona Republic, Phoenix Business Journal, FOXNews.com, Advocate.com and other Web sites.

“There has been a lot of communication on this issue” between local and national HRC officers, Young said. She said she hopes the group will be “more in unison on message on how we go forward.”

Young said that lost in the controversy is the fact that HRC is sending a staff member to Arizona to work on local events for three months starting in August. She said the staffer will need lodging and transportation and the events will require venues, food and beverages, all of which will create business.

Meanwhile, the local gay chamber has pulled back from its participation with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, which also joined the boycott. Gesullo said the local chamber no longer participates in conference calls with the national group and will not send two delegates to a national conference.

Gesullo credited the national chamber for sending a letter of support to local chamber members when the boycott became an issue.

Young and Gesullo, who spoke in separate telephone interviews for this story, said that the chamber and HRC have not been talking since the issue erupted.

Gesullo said that he’s not troubled by gay organizations airing their differences. “We don’t all see eye to eye on things,” he said. “Gays and lesbians should be able to have differences of opinions. We don’t always need to agree.”

The national HRC office did not return a message requesting comment for this story.