Gay hotelier Ian Reisner can’t catch a break. Ever since he hosted a private dinner party for gay-hating 2016 presidential hopeful Ted Cruz back in April, he’s suffered an onslaught of bad press, gaffes, lawsuits, and boycotts of his various businesses.
Last weekend, Queer Nation flew a plane over Fire Island trailing a banner calling for people to boycott the millionaire’s businesses there.
Reisner just can’t seem to do right, even if he is on the political right, which begs the question: Is boycotting one of our own really a good idea?
Sound off here…
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Dennis C. McGrath
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The friend of my enemy is … fill in the blank,
Michael Haynes
I don’t know
Benny NoGood
When that person is actively supporting and funding (to the MAXIMUM LEGAL AMOUNT) those who openly discriminate against us? HELL YES.
David B Horn
He may be gay, but I would hardly call him one of our own. He is apparently far more interested in preserving his bank balance than he is of working toward LGBT rights- let’s not forget, he and his partner DID refer to their LGBT customers as “cheap”, after all. AND it wasn’t just Ted Cruz, they also hosted Ron Johnson, who makes Ted Cruz look like Elton John with regards to the rights of LGBT people.
Chris L. Reynolds
How many of “Our”community acts in a contrary,self-loathing manner,to preserve themselves from the rapprochement of others?
Rob Laughlin
I don’t claim him.
Jake Riley
Yes
Roland Hamburger
I thought we already did this with Perez Hilton
Cam
He was giving money to anti-gay politicians. Boycotting him means less money goes to people fighting against gay rights.
Dave Basora
He’s donated money to a politician who wants to take away our rights and lied about it.
How is it okay to boycott a straight person if they did it and not this moron?
QJ201
Screw boycotting, this one needs a full on shunning.
Too bad money talks; he’ll find plenty of shallow twinks to fill with drugs and booze.
Gregg Jabarisidiki
We aren’t monolithic. He can do whatever want most of us do and most of aren’t as liberal as you would think .
Jim Van Matre
he’s not one of our own
Charles I. Mumford
Maybe this will start to open eyes to the fact that no one group is all good and always right. We have done more to separate ourselves into groups than we have ever done to be come a truly United States.
Jamie Gibbons
It damn sure is a good idea.
Ryan Dunkin
When they are an asshole then yes
Jonathan26
This guy & his partner are not one of ours. They are the bitches of the devil and deserve not $1 of gay money.
Christopher Michael
yes. If you’re gay and you act a cheap fool, you gets what you gets.
Timothy Warner
The Man is a Fool!
Johnathan Sawicki
Nothing to do with his sexuality or even his politics. For me, it’s more that he’s a terrible business person and there are much better businesses I’d prefer to support. Easy as that.
Michael Spike Vincent
Ya, why would it NOT be okay? This is a person who wants to make money off the Gay community but wants to sit at the table of the hate group called GOP. Why? Cause he has money and he cares more about protecting his bank account then standing with a group that he “belongs to” and is treated like second class. He thinks his money will buy respect from the people who will vote against his basic civil rights
Patrick Cremeans
I thought business owners shouldn’t refuse service to anyone? The sword cuts both way you queens.
Kieru
How and where we spend our money is the single most powerful act any average (read: not extremely wealthy / famous) citizen can do. It’s the one form of protest that when done en masse is guaranteed to have tangible results. People, Companies, and Government can ignore protests, or walks, or hashtag campaigns.
It’s harder to ignore your bottom line dropping into the red.
So yes, if you feel that his actions are contrary to what you believe to be right, tell him so with your wallet.
Jamie Hincks
If he is playing a role in harming the gay community, he is not on our side, and we should not take his side either.
Bromancer7
Yes, because despite being gay he is clearly not one of our own.
Celtic
To directly answer the question, yes. If one of our own is causing harm to us collectively by supporting those who discriminate against us, then we have to fight back.
Mark Stevenson
Yes!
BJ McFrisky
Boycott—what a nice, progressive word for “ostracize.”
Give me a break. People in this neighborhood flat-out HATE anything/anyone who isn’t a die-hard liberal—especially the gay ones—so the story of Mr. Reisner is just par for the course.
Michael Jarboe
What does that mean exactly? Haggard, Mehlmann, Foley, Reiker, Craig, the whole group from Exodus…there’s a long, long list of “our own” that have caused more damage than any heterosexual.
Bauhaus
@BJ McFrisky:
“People in this neighborhood flat-out HATE anything/anyone who isn’t a die-hard liberal”
YOU just hate THIS neighborhood, liberal, or otherwise.
Milk
We are not boycotting our own. We are boycotting those who is supporting our oppressors. The sexual orientation of the oppressors enablers are irrelevant.
Richard Gorlewski
On this, I really don’t know because Ian has a right to his political opinions, as we have the right to our opinion. However, if their brand truly sucks, the market will take care of them.
Christopher Dellamura
I just realized this guy was the guy on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, New York. He treated Luis, the realtor, like garbage. He had no problem calling a straight guy names and ridiculing him literally over nothing. I realize it’s a show but he was only on for a few scenes last year and had no problem apparently being portrayed as a total, self-centered jerk. We should be protesting them and they deserve to feel the pain for what they have gotten caught doing and probably have done in the past. All of this possible because of the gay community making them rich. I don’t even think they can be rehabilitated. Just pure scum.
ozzyboy14
Maybe we don’t need to officially boycot him, but I for one will not be giving my money to establishments that donate to Ted Cruz or any other candidate that attempts to set back the equal rights movement.
He’s entitled to his opinion. He certainly can give his money to Ted Cruz or Michelle Bachman or any other zealot that believes gay people are immoral. That’s on Ian and members of the Log Cabin.
Our right, and perhaps this is the answer to the question, is to practice informed spending. We may have boycotted Perez for self-hating/outing other people and maybe that’s just gay social Darwinism. But giving money to candidates who are trying to undo the years of work, time, and money our community has put into the struggle for equal rights is unacceptable to me. I think it’s dangerous. We should be supporting one another and my way of doing that is giving my hard earn money to companies and LGBT businesses that have aligned interests.
1EqualityUSA
Republicans are good for the very wealthy, but the middle class takes hits on their retirement accounts for all of the, “conservative” financial debaucheries.
Cam
@BJ McFrisky: said… “Boycott—what a nice, progressive word for “ostracize.”
Give me a break. People in this neighborhood flat-out HATE anything/anyone who isn’t a die-hard liberal—especially the gay ones—so the story of Mr. Reisner is just par for the course”
_________________________________
BJ, even you know that your comments are Bullsh*t by the fact that you never state what it is the person did. You hide behind euphemism like “They believe differently”.
No, he donated money to somebody trying to attack gay rights in this country. End of story.
Patrick Lehman
What does “one of our own” even mean, if they’re investing in someone who wants to take my rights away?
polarisfashion
He is not one of our own!
David Harlem
They are NOT one of our own. They proved that with their politics. They’re so calloused they’ll cry all the way to the bank, but when the conservatives start trying to deny us our rights will these two men be spared because they sucked up to the likes of Cruz? Yes boycotting might wake these two traitors up but it’s all about the $$$$ so I doubt it. And don’t forget they called US cheap and petty which doesn’t exactly endear them to any of us.
ngblog
Sacrificing a well know gay destination hotspot for the sake of one guy. Interesting question indeed.
Scott Haltom
Maybe he did it to show Cruz that he is “bigger”. That we are not the bad people that Cruz may say we are. Turning the other cheek? It doesn’t necessarily mean he backs Cruz. He could have declined and used the argument that his religious beliefs prohibit it or some other excuse. Besides when it comes to money does it really matter what the source is as long as it is legal?
jwtraveler
I agree with most of the above. I’m gay and Jewish and so is Reisner, and there the similarity ends. If he were being boycotted or targeted in any way because he is Jewish and/or gay, then I would defend him as a civil rights issue. But he’s not. He’s being targeted because of his offensive and harmful political and financial actions. For that he deserves no consideration.
That said, I don’t think I could boycott Reisner because it’s unlikely that I have or will ever patronize one of his businesses.
Henry Benavidez
YES! Just because I am Latino doesn’t mean I support Mark Rubio.
Kris McCleery
Yes
Rick Collier
Yep, maybe we should take our cheap asses elsewhere..lol
Desert Boy
Ian Reisner is NOT “one of our own”.
Paul Dettmann
He is not one of our own. He is just a greedy 1%er who happens to like dick.
It would be different if he were supporting pro lgbt republicans (if there are such a thing), but he isn’t. Not even close.
Knarf Yahzie
Yaaas!
Bruch Reed
He is NOT “one of our own.” He is a traitorous lying cunt of a bloatwalleted shitpussy who professes to care more for Israel than for us, and who, in cold blood, murdered “one of our own.”
Gabriel Waldron
who is he?? never heard of him, but has anyone asked him why he thought Ted Cruz was a good idea??
Rodney Church
The time has come, YES, make him FEEL it!
Sweetie Pie
He’s a self-hating bottom…
Adrian Lehman-Sizemore
yes
Adrian Lehman-Sizemore
he is not one of our own!
onthemark
I don’t see why not! A boycott is a financial tactic used against those who work actively against the interests of a GROUP. The technicality of him being gay is not relevant to that.
onthemark
@onthemark: Besides, if you are “CHEAP AND ENTITLED” a boycott fits right in, you don’t need to spend as much money!
TO
We live in a free capitalist country and the way many people effect change and show support is with their wallet. The same way Mr. Reisner is entitled to do whatever he wants with his money, anyone can choose to take their business and money elsewhere. If his businesses feel a real financial impact it is no one’s fault but his own.
McShane
Every part of this entire story has been such an unmitigated disaster. From not knowing what Ted Cruz is all about, to lying about a donation, his hit and run/DUII, calling gays cheap, and that dead guy in his bathtub. For Reisner to be aware of Cruz’s stance on foreign policy, yet oblivious to his views on gay rights seems implausible.
I know he uses Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations for his businesses, but who the hell is doing his PR for all this sloppy personal stuff. A blindfolded, one legged chicken dancing on a keyboard? It’s so bad. Tape his mouth shut and slap the sh!t out of him if he mumbles. Someone, anyone, get him to shut up.
If I could avoid knowingly giving him money, yes I would boycott.
Plus, his eyebrows scare me and he always looks wet.
Michael Martinez
Yes it is. Just being gay does not get you a pass when you do something so disgusting to serve your own purposes and then brag about it. He/they are getting exactly what they deserve.
Karl Miranda
This is a stupid question! Let’s say for arguments sake if Hitler was gay; would you be willing to claim him as your own even though he murdered many LGBTs??
Desert Boy
@McShane: “Plus, his eyebrows scare me …” HAHAHAHAHA
Don Bradshaw
Why not? It happens in every type of community
lauraspencer
How many of us on here have been to Fire Island?
I have been going for 18 years and I’m out in the Pines on average 3 times a summer. This boycott isn’t going to work. The Pines and Cherry Grove are quite small and have few bars/restaurants and the ones that do exist are owned by a handful of businessmen. The gays aren’t going to give up their low tea and high teas at the Pavilion, Blue Whale, Sip & Twirl et. al. These places have existed for decades and are a tradition. Our “community” which for many is all about being seen and looking fabulous (certainly on Fire Island) isn’t going to sit at home and read a book. That’s what they do all day on FI. The evening is about going out.
Reisner who has deep enough pockets to own all these places isn’t the one who will be hurt. It will be all the bartenders, waiters, hotel staff, cooks, janitors, etc. that are young locals trying to make money to support themselves.
I will be out in the Pines in 2 weeks and I’m certain that the crowds will be the same as usual. The gays aren’t going to give up their $8 bud lights and $12 Planters Punches.
AtticusBennett
Time to make Cherry Grove the IT PLACE on the Island, then.
One of Our Own? HA!
Is it worth boycotting someone who utterly supported one of the US’ most vitriolic bigots? hell to the yeah.
melewis
@Benny NoGood: I agree! There is no way we should support anyone who openly tries to take our civil rights away, even before we get them.
onthemark
@lauraspencer: “This boycott isn’t going to work.”
Define “work.” Will it cause every business of his to be totally deserted? Probably not. But will it have a very significant impact? Probably.
Vincent Turner
YES, boycott these m-fuckers.
Chance Russell
asks, “why don’t these two asshats sell all their gay-themed businesses, and buy chick-fil-a’s and silent partner shares of religious , bigoted, bakeries?”
Chris Turk
Yes.
Cam
@Scott Haltom: said…. “Maybe he did it to show Cruz that he is “bigger”. That we are not the bad people that Cruz may say we are. Turning the other cheek? It doesn’t necessarily mean he backs Cruz.”
______________________
Is this a joke?
He did it to show Cruz that he is bigger? And It doesn’t necessarily mean he backs Cruz?
Let me point out, that not only did he max out the amount of money an individual could donate to Cruz for the Primary season, he held a fundraiser where Cruz pulled in up to $100,000 in donations for his campaign. You claim THAT doesn’t mean he backs him?
And last I checked Turning the other cheek did not mean donating to a cause or person that was directly attacking your Civil Rights. That is beyond ridiculous.
Cam
@lauraspencer: said….
“Reisner who has deep enough pockets to own all these places isn’t the one who will be hurt. It will be all the bartenders, waiters, hotel staff, cooks, janitors, etc. that are young locals trying to make money to support themselves.”
_____________________
That is the same argument everybody who ever tries to defend anti-gay bigots, or their supporters claim.
I wonder what will hurt the Bartenders worse, if Reisner sells his businesses or if Ted Cruz becomes President, appoints anti-gay justices to the Supreme Court and launches a complete assault on people’s civil rights.
Lastly, if no boycott would effect Reisner then you’ll have to explain why he wrote a groveling letter to the Pines Owners association apologizing to them.
Jonathan26
@ngblog: Nothng is being sacrificed. There is, however, a call for him to divest from the Pines. Once he’s gone, business goes on as usual and the suggestion that the patrons of the businesses don’t have the right to chose how to spend their money is complete crap!
Kangol
Yes, especially when dealing with a r@cist, homophobe like Ian Reisner.
Xzamilio
We’re gay, not homogeneous. You call out bullshit where you see it, even if it is “one of our own.”
Robert Walsh
They’re not MY KIND of people.
Steve Hanson
Define one of our own? Not one of mine. Would rather patronize a straight owned progressive business any day of the week.
Ken Spragg
To see how ridiculous a hypothetical “no” answer to that question would be, swap in comparable behaviour by a member of any other demographic. Should black people not eschew “one of their own” who panders to white-supremacists? Should women in the suffrage movement have supported other women who opposed the right of women to vote?
Just because some other homo fucks or gets fucked by other men doesn’t mean he deserves my unqualified support. Our mutual inclination to sodomy clearly doesn’t dictate similar *values*, and if he opposes my liberty and equality even tacitly by cozying up to homophobic assholes, then he isn’t “one of *my* own.” He’s with ‘them.’
The ‘accident’ of being born one way or another– whether it comes down to nationality, or sex, or ‘race,’ or orientation– doesn’t make us automatic allies, not if we have one lick of sense. Common values and shared principles make allies. And making some false appeal to those things to curry favour with one’s ‘kin’ while undermining them makes a fucking traitor.
Sean Paul Kelly
yes…..yes….and yes. we share an orientation….but I’ve got a pulse, and a heart…..
Chris Eaton
So, you’re saying that someone’s sexual orientation is more important than their actions in determining how they should be treated?
That’s an… interesting… position.
Avery Alvarez
If he had his way, Ted Cruz or one of his buddies would be president. Our rights would be thrown under the bus, set back decades! And this Ass Reisner would be completely sheltered from it, still taking money from gay customers to put into the hands of anti-gay freaks to attack us.
Just because someone is gay, doesn’t mean we have to support them no matter what, especially if he’s done something horrible.
We don’t want to be like conservative christians, how they protect, shelter, and make excuses for child molester Josh Dugger just because he’s “one of their own”
robho3
Yes, the man is a douche. I don’t care if he was my uncle— he’s a douche gay, straight, or otherwise.
Jonathan26
@Cam:That’s a good point. With all the talk about Reisner’s maxed out donation, little has been said about the invaluable access he provided to some of the country’s wealthiest donors at, we now know, we’re at least two fundraisers. The $2,700 is just the tip of the iceberg. Cruz showed up for cold, hard cash and access to more of it through the people in the room which, we know, included at least 18 attendees at the Cruz dinner organized by Reisner & Weidrepass. The nationwide influence of Cruz and Johnson is undeniable as the right, particularly the far right which they lead, pushes harder & harder against the tide of equality. Reisner & Weiderpass wholeheartedly embraced & sponsored these sworn enemies of the gay community providing crucial access to their rarefied world of extreme wealth & power and the vast pools of private money that await presidential candidates. Senators Cruz & Weiderpass campaign on their opposition to gay rights & when they speak in town halls and school auditoriums across the nation, those audiences will include closeted, terrified, perhaps even suicidal GLBTQT youth as well as adults who will suffer from the hate these men spew as they commit themselves to a Biblical fight that would see our rights, so dearly claimed after so much suffering, reversed. We’ve been told “how hard it is to earn a penny off of” the “cheap” & “entitled” gays and labeled “extremists” for daring to question the absolute right of Reisner & Weiderpass to spend money they earn in businesses we support however they choose. Their actions & statements confirm their gross indifference & danger to the community making them rich & it is appalling. As Andy Tobias & other community leaders have said, the best resolution would be for Reisner & Weiderpass to divest from the Pines and the boycott is an effective tool to apply pressure to get them the hell out.
DCFarmboi
Boycott? No. He can do what he wants with his own money. But he in no ways should present himself nor should other accept him as even a minor leader of the gay community. Thousands of wealthy gays give money to right wing Republicans all of the time. That is what rich people do – gay or straight. But he should not be allowed to buy himself in to any standing in our community.
Thom Walker
I have the right to boycott anything or anyone I want. He’s done!
Voltaire Erasmus
He supports the political views of not only a candidate, but a party that courts socially far right wing ideologies. A party of which ONLY one Presidential Candidate, Pataki, has spoken in favor of Gay Rights. The rest are against us.
I’ve used these analogy before and some see it as extreme since the vast majority of these Republicans aren’t out to kill us, just make us second class citizens so they can fill their pockets with campaign cash.
Imagine a Jew in the early 1930s supporting Nazis? They hadn’t even devised their Final Solution yet! But they were undoubtedly anti-Semitic, and anti-Gay. What would you think of that Jew that supported them during this time and their reason was, “Well, they will better our economy by shipping out those illegal aliens, being tough on other nations that bully us, and put everyone back to work!” ?
Nazi Germany did all of those things, but at a terrible cost and even in the early 1930s they never hid their anti-Semitic or anti-Gay philosophies. Instead, over the course of a few short years, that ideology consumed an entire nation and a world at war.
I’m not saying that is going to happen here, but that is how I see anyone that is LGBT supporting the Republican Party. They are ACTIVELY siding with those who we are, whether they truly believe it or whether it is just to fill their pockets with money soaked from the social conservatives. Either way it is EVIL.
If you are LGBT and your are economically conservative, then there are other choices out there. They are actually economically conservative Democrats. Or be a Libertarian… a real Libertarian, not an idiot like Rand Paul that is still socially conservative, but calls himself one.
The stupidity of humankind never ceases to amaze me. None of us is immune to it, but at least if we don’t give money to those out to limit our rights we are accomplishing something good.
Kelly Keigwin
Let’s be honest. White gay males are the elite of the lgbtq community and MANY separate themselves and only care about their needs. Yes, they need to be called out. They’re enjoying a place in society of privilege and somehow think they are better than everyone else. In the bigger picture, they’re an abomination to the haters, just like the rest of us. They just choose to pretend they’re not.
Jim Guinnessey
In my lifetime I have met more Gay men and women who call themselves Republicans and claim they vote Republican. The old Latin phrase “de gustibus non est disputandum” (no accounting for taste”) applies here. However, though I respect the right of anyone to choose what he or she likes, given the venomous and sick pandering of today’s GOP stars and starlets like Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Phyllis Schafly, Mike Huckabee, Michelle Bachmann,etc., a gay man or woman who would contribute time, effort and money to any of these fraudsters or their ilk must have real issues with masochism.
Joseph Pasquino
His buddy mati was asked to leave this weekend from the pines property.
Atomicrob
I simply can’t imagine why gay man would want have anything to do with the likes of Ted Cruz. If someone makes their living by delivering a product or service to the gay community, I would expect they wold have a loyalty to same. I don’t think Ian Reisner is a monster, but I think he’s not a very savvy businessman. People are angry with him. It will blow over eventually.
Kevin J Desmond
That’s what happens when you screw over your own kind for a quick buck, greedy sucm sucken bastard.
David Bolton
@Cam
@BJ McFrisky: said… “Boycott—what a nice, progressive word for “ostracize.”
Give me a break. People in this neighborhood flat-out HATE anything/anyone who isn’t a die-hard liberal—especially the gay ones—so the story of Mr. Reisner is just par for the course”
_________________________________
BJ, even you know that your comments are Bullsh*t by the fact that you never state what it is the person did. You hide behind euphemism like “They believe differently”.
No, he donated money to somebody trying to attack gay rights in this country. End of story.
AND he did it to promote his own interests, i.e. make more money and be in a position of greater power. This guy is a piece of shit who was stupid and arrogant enough to think that those silly, vapid sex-crazed gays wouldn’t give a fuck if he did something for the “other side” because he has a gay business, right? He’s a member of the community, right?
We saw how his sense of community evaporated when he was called out. People like BJ care about one person… themselves. Enjoy being that island until you need anything from the rest of us… I hear it can be pretty expensive to import help.
manxxxx
Please. You have to ask?
Dennis Mitchell
BOYCOTT
Rob Moore
I might have been willing to cut him some slack if his original claim of just wanting to meet with Cruz to discuss some issues about LGBT civil rights and Israel had been just that. But it was a fundraiser. He gave that vile mass of protein, fats, and water the maximum donation. He poured salt in the wound by making statements that even his own mother would have known were insincere because he thinks we are stupid.
He is worse than our public enemies. He sells us out for 30 pieces of silver. I have no forgiveness for him. None of us should. We should turn our backs on him the way he turned his on us.
Robert Moore
I might have been willing to cut him some slack if his original claim of just wanting to meet with Cruz to discuss some issues about LGBT civil rights and Israel had been just that. But it was a fundraiser. He gave that vile mass of protein, fats, and water the maximum donation. He poured salt in the wound by making statements that even his own mother would have known were insincere because he thinks we are stupid.
He is worse than our public enemies. He sells us out for 30 pieces of silver. I have no forgiveness for him. None of us should. We should turn our backs on him the way he turned his on us.
Kieran
Gays have more than enough straight enemies out there. We don’t need to try to crush gays who acknowledge they made a mistake. Yes, Reisner made a terribly dumb choice by hosting a party for an unrepentant homophobe like Ted Cruz. But I believe this mistake came about because Reisner allowed Cruz’s staunch Zionism to trump his record of homophobia. It shouldn’t have happened and I hope it doesn’t happen again.
Steve Rosenberger
Are you kidding? He might be one of yours but he’s not one of mine. This scumbag is the worst sort of hypocrite and an exposed threat to OUR community. Boycott him into the ground.
mcflyer54
Well, look at how quickly all the conservative politicians suddenly scrubbed their websites of any traces of Josh Duggar and the entire Duggar family. And certainly the Duggars (and especially Josh’s controlled PAC) were highly regarded and considered one of their (GOP) own. No person or group of people is representative of an entire element of society (conservative, liberal, gay, straight, black, white, etc.) no matter where they might fit (or do not fit) within that group. You don’t have to support anyone with whom you disagree if they are relying on your money to advance a cause you find offensive or harmful. In most cases boycotts are notorious failures. They start out with lots of publicity and support but that quickly dwindles when people find them too “inconvenient” to continue supporting – this one will likely be the same. My jackass homophobic bigotted moron brother is a perfect example of someone who talks a good story but continues to do business with all those companies that he’s supposed to boycott because of their support for equality.
Stephen Meeks
Yes, it is. Just because someone is LGBT, doesn’t mean they’re infallible.
EvonCook
YES, YES, and More So! Boycott the creeps! We don’t have patience or energy for hypocrisy or one percenters who support those that hate us or work against us.
ethan_hines
A Male that acts like a Dick is a Dick be he Straight or Gay!
F. Jay Ver
You can boycott anyone you want. How many of us have had to cut other toxic gays out of our lives? Plenty I imagine. Good bye Dolce and Gabana and good bye to this guy.
Bauhaus
@lauraspencer:
“The gays aren’t going to give up their low tea and high teas at the Pavilion, Blue Whale, Sip & Twirl et. al.”
What you’re really saying is: YOU aren’t going to give it up.
Jeffrey Thomas
He has lied all the way along this. First he acted like he had no idea who Cruz was or what he stands for, then he claimed although he did meet with him he gave him no money, then they said they were so hurt as they only had the best for the gay community in mind, and on and on and on. Then they turned on the community and call us all insulting names. Do not give these guys any more of our money. It will end up in the hands of a hate group. They only love our cash, not us. Our cash is their “precious”, let’s take it away.
Jim Phoenix
I would never stay at his hotel before, during or after his decision to support anti-gay politicians. I never even heard of this guy or his hotel until this hit the news stands.
rf7777
“One of us?” Zionists who just want the US to bomb another Middle Eastern country?
Nico Vasquez
Of course, if need be.
Mark Ellis
Pandering to the enemy negates any inclusion of “own”.
Damian Anthony
Jaime Burke?
captaincanine
One of our own? Was a 23 year old found dead in my bathroom? No. I have more in common with the vast majority of straight people than I do with Ian Reisner.
Lance Streeter Edwards
If bakeries cannot refuse to make cakes for gay weddings because of their religious beliefs, I expect that Reisner really cannot refure to hold and event because of his politics and sexual orientation.
takingliberties
He’s an ass, gay or not,
takingliberties
He’s an ass, gay or not. Silly bitch.
Giancarlo85
@BJ McFrisky: You’re a flat out bullshit artist. Learn about who you support and understand the damage you are doing to this entire country. All republicans (and that includes Pataki) are damaging this country and hurting everyone in it. They are corporate sell-outs and are pushing bad policies. The last time republicans were in power we ended up in an illegal war in Iraq that had major repercussions and blow-back. Now we have a major mess on our hands in the middle east because of what the republican party has done.
Now Obama has to clean up the mess republicans left all over the fucking globe. And all you, BJ, can do is cry about being victimized? Use your brain please.
@lauraspencer: Except Reisner drove his own business into the ground with shit business policies. Do you pay any attention to what is going on? Or are you busy putting money into the pockets of someone who supports the disgusting republican party?
You gay conservatives, republicans or libertarians are all the same and you lie about everything. It’s all the same brown nosing and ass kissing because you think republicans are better for your checkbook.
Republicans have proven shit record on the economy, on foreign affairs and on domestic issues, yet people like you and BJ still support them. THe last four republican presidencies have done substantial damage to this country, its economy and to the people living in it. One of those republican presidencies was criminally neglectful when it came to handling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Another launched a war into Iraq based on false pretenses and forgot about Afghanistan. And another threw up in the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister and made a fool of himself on the international stage… his administration too ended up in recession. Like father, like son.
Giancarlo85
@Kieran: Oh please. Crush who? You are just another one of the gay republicans on here. You know what’s a mistake? Being a republican, conservative or libertarian. That’s a BIG MISTAKE!
Chuck Stevenson
Why treat him any differently than any other hypocrite? Because we share the same sexual preference? Sorry, you throw your own people under the bus politically or civilly you run the risk of being thrown under with them.
Jesse Erickson
If a politician is for something wrong, then you vote against them. Orientation doesn’t factor in
Julian Rogers
Of course it is. Just because he’s gay doesn’t mean he is a good person making wise choices. He is a self-centered jerk who should be boycotted. Actions have consequences.
Jay A. Scaramazzo
Yes. It is about principal.
neonjon
I’ve got the solution we can all live with…It’s been my policy for decades…Go to the Pines to look and be seen, then, take a mary prance through the “Judy Garland Memorial Park”, to where the real party has always been!The “Grove”.
Merv
Reisner made very clear that he contributed to Cruz not because he agreed with his anti-gay policies, but because he wanted Cruz to work with Netanyahu to help start World War III. You can’t blame a guy for wanting to see the world end in a thermonuclear war.
Jim Long
WTF???
David Bolton
Let’s rephrase the question: “Why SHOULD we give this guy any support?”
William C Grenillo
If I’m not going to boycott st8 business..why am I going to start with a gay one to boycott
Jim Langford
Yes
Giancarlo85
Republicans are pro-recession. They then try to blame the recession they created on the democrats who are fixing their mess. Look at their track record. Why even on economic pretenses would anyone vote for these clowns?
California is evidence of how stupid the republican party is. We had to fix years of republican disasters in this state. This state is far from voting republicans. None have won any state-wide offices in years. Jerry Brown had to clean up a lot of republican bullshit… and now we have a republican party that is increasingly insigificant, increasingly reactionary and pushes such corrupt tools like Neel Kashkari.
On economic reasons alone, I could not ever vote for a republican. That would go up against my own interests.
Domestic and foreign policies are another matter that makes me even more against them. These assholes stand against everything a free country should stand for. They want to turn the US into Uganda.
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85:
Hi Crazy!!
Not sure where you got from my posting that I’m Republican. As I have said before numerous times I am a registered Democrat. 70% of my voting record is Democrat.
My friends who own a home on Fire Island are also Democrats. We three Dems will definitely enjoy tea both low and high along with all the other residents of FI who will be there.
If you make it out to the island I hope to meet you so I can buy you a mudslide and pout it over your crazy little head.
Darryl Cummings
Yup.
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: Hi lunatic!
I don’t know where you think you’re such a moderate or democrat. And anytime anyone has ever voted republican they have basically discredited themselves.
You are not a moderate. You are not on the left wing politically. You are very much a conservative who has little insight about global politics. Stop trying to fool others or lie about what you really stand for.
And crazy? Nope. I’m very much in line with the political standpoints of other developed countries.
Tom Gouzoules
Yes…our actions have consequences!
Transiteer
Yes, it’s okay. When you act like he has, it’s the right thing to do.
Lotta Yadayada
Shen him. Make him invisible. And HELL yes boycott his ass.
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85:
I never said I was a moderate and you are correct in saying that I’m not left wing. Most Democrats aren’t left wing. The Democratic party hasn’t been “left wing” in decades. Obama and Hillary aren’t even left wing.
I am moderate to liberal on social issues and I am conservative on economic ones.
I am not a liberal and I’m not a lemming. My voting record stands for candidates and not parties. Individual thought over group thought. I am registered Democrat and have voted Dem 70% of the time, Republican about 20% and Independent about 10%.
scotshot
@lauraspencer:
If you stand for “conservative”economic issues then you are in no sense a moderate or liberal on social issues as they are diametrically opposed. See Paul Ryan’s budget proposals.
It’s time you found another board to Troll. It’s not healthy being around people who think throwing a drink on someone is funny. It’s rather anti social negative behavior.
Michael Scheinine
Yes
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: Obama and Hillary are moderate compared to you! you are very much a conservative. And being conservative on economic issues is the equivalent of being braindead.
Economic conservatives are the worst and live in a constant state of distortion. They don’t live in the real world. You are indeed a lemming. You are an economic conservative. You do not think critically therefore you are stuck with immature and incoherent viewpoints that you have.
Go to another board please. Nobody is paying attention to your libertarian crap anymore.
And yes, scotshot… this troll is very anti-social and seems to suffer from various mental issues.
Giancarlo85
And I don’t get this “social liberal, economic conservative” bullcrap. The two contradict each other. You can’t be both. Economic conservatism is contrary to social equality and justice. Economic conservatism is about selling this country out to corporations and hurting the average person even further. People like you think corporations are people and that regulations are evil. People like you think the destruction of the Frank-Dodd regulations was about freedom.
You simply want to sell this country out to white collar criminals because they steal better.
Anyone who is economically conservative is not paying attention to anything and has been living under a rock for the past 5 years. These same economic conservatives told entire countries to embrace austerity… total fucking bullshit. Austerity and other economic conservative “reform” drove countries deeper into recessions.
enlightenone
A wealthy, Republican, White Privileged male isn’t one of my own!!!!!!!!!
captainburrito
@Patrick Cremeans: Private dinner party.
Finrod
If he were a black South African who was collaborating with, even giving money to, the apartheid regime, would this even be a question?
[email protected]
@Benny NoGood: So true!!!
Alan Gossett
As Bette Davis once said, “pity… pity… pity…”
Alan Gossett
What a classic example of ‘wanting your cake and eating it too’… It is completely proper that a community of his “own people” should shun him for hosting and contributing to an individual who espouses a morally reprehensible stigmatization and suppression of his “own community” He needs to “man up” and own his own morally reprehensible behavior…
Saint Law
@scotshot: Oh please. I’ve thrown more drinks at people than I’ve bought. There’s enough stupid in his post with out that.
I mean his whole: “most democrats aren’t leftwing” – like that’s something to be proud of!
He’s right though. Obama and Hilary aren’t left wing. They’re corporate brought and sold neoconservative technocrats who, despite their rhetoric, believe politics is fundamentally a matter for the upper middle class.
They only look good coz the competition is so insane.
Eric Kuznof
Absolutely! When they support those who deny our rights.
Eric Ashleigh
This topic is over. Stop trying to make it relevant. The boycott is not going to happen.
Tommy O'Brien
How much did he give to cruz? Or was it a just a one time dinner? A lot more things to worry about then destroying him or his business. Orthodoxy out of control.
Giancarlo85
@Eric Ashleigh: Says who?
Michael Edwards Pruitt
Yes for so many reasons. What a dope he is!
Ron Parsons
No one is more bitchy or intolerant than a gay man with an agenda.
John Quin
He got what he deserved for trying to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds at the same time!
Chevelter
I have boycott fatigue. I have outrage fatigue. The internet makes it so easy to ramp up the pressure to conform to increasingly politically correct views, now we’re even eating our own. I quit. I don’t care anymore. I’m not boycotting anything, I just want my pudding.
Clarence Standish
If he’s gay he’s one of us. There are assholes in every group. Just because he’s one of us doesn’t mean his actions and choices have no consequences.
Giancarlo85
@Chevelter: Oh please. This has nothing to do with political correctness. This has to do with someone peddling dangerous viewpoints that could damage this entire country. Imagine if a Republican were to win in 2016. That would be a disaster and I doubt you’d be repeating the same “I am better than all of you” nonsense. Reisner isn’t out own… He is a hypocrite and a con artist who ran his business into the ground, while peddling some stupid and destructive viewpoints.
onthemark
@lauraspencer: You say “I am registered Democrat and have voted Dem 70% of the time, Republican about 20% and Independent about 10%.”
I’m curious:
– What offices are you referring to with those 20% and 10%?
– How many of those Republicans got elected?
– If they did get into office, did you notice what policies they actually followed (as opposed to what b.s. they campaigned on)?
My impression (here in the northeast) is that “moderate” Republicans, when they manage to get elected, often revert to the anti-gay (and anti-choice) social obsessions pretty quickly. And their economic obsessions don’t have a good track record.
Ken Maddex
When he chose to host a private dinner for Ted Cruz, he chose the other side. He obviously chose the other side because of money. Now he’s made his bed.
Cam
@Kieran: said… “Gays have more than enough straight enemies out there. We don’t need to try to crush gays who acknowledge they made a mistake.”
______________________________
Or we could rethink what you said and change it to “Gays have more than enough straight enemies so we should not be giving money and support to a gay enemy who is helping to fund their anti-gay attacks on us.”
There, that’s much better.
onthemark
@lauraspencer: I’m guessing you live in a very Democratic area and you tell yourself you’re making some kind of “statement” by voting for an occasional Republican (who usually doesn’t get in).
I wonder how many Massachusetts voters sincerely regret voting for Mitt Romney for governor in 2002 over Shannon O’Brien (it was a fairly close election), thereby inflicting him on the unsuspecting American public for the next decade! My guess is, a lot of them regret it (enough to swing that election, certainly). Maybe MOST of them, since he didn’t do much as governor except plot how to run for president.
Liam Cregg
One of whose own? Definitely not one of mine.
Cam
@Giancarlo85: said…. “And I don’t get this “social liberal, economic conservative” bullcrap. The two contradict each other. You can’t be both. Economic conservatism is contrary to social equality and justice.”
_________________
Also, considering that the last time we had a Dem President we had a budget surplus, then the budget collapsed under the GOP, and now our economy has recovered under a Dem, not to mention what is going on in states like Kansas…the GOP claiming that they are economic conservatives is a lit.
They don’t mind spending trillions to go overseas and hand money over to their campaign donors, but spending even a few dollars here in the U.S. on infrastructure, education, or Veterans will send them into furious attacks on how that is a waste of money.
They aren’t economically conservative, they just want all of our taxpayer dollars to go into the pockets of their campaign donors.
BJ McFrisky
@Chevelter: A thousand up-votes to you, sir.
Cam
@Chevelter: said..
“I have boycott fatigue. I have outrage fatigue. The internet makes it so easy to ramp up the pressure to conform to increasingly politically correct views, now we’re even eating our own.”
____________________________
Nice try troll. “Eating Our Own”? So you classify “Our Own” as somebody funding anti-gay attacks?
You seem to be in a far different group than most.
lauraspencer
@scotshot:
Darling, if you want to look at “anti-social negative behavior” then look at the majority of giancarlo’s postings. Pouring a drink over someone’s head is tame. You are a precious one if you think tossing a drink is really that bad. How do you handle life when it actually does get difficult?
I respect what everyone has to say on here and I don’t get upset by it, but some of you take it so personally. For individuals who want to be respected you need to learn to do the same. As I have said numerous times I am a registered Democrat and my voting record has been 70% for Dems.
It’s ludicrous that some on here post telling me I can’t be a Democrat if I’m financially conservative yet moderate to liberal on social issues. So I can’t respect a dollar and how it is made? Invest that dollar and grow it? And still think gays should be able to marry, women should have the right to abortion, pot should be legal, prostitution should be legal, etc?
Haven’t gays fought for years about not being told who they should be? Don’t try to tell me who I should be.
have a great day.
lauraspencer
@onthemark:
Thank you for taking an interest and asking. Here is my Presidential voting record going back to the 80s…
Bush
Clinton
Clinton
Gore
Kerry
Obama
Romney
As for the other regional elections I have lived in NY and DC. Honestly, my life hasn’t changed one bit no matter who has been in office. I still date who I want, I go to work and I pay bills and taxes.
orcanyc
@Kieru: I so agree, wonderfully said
orcanyc
He chose the other side, all for money. He should be ashamed!
sweetbrandigirl2004
Is boycotting one of our own really a good idea? When thier a DICK and betrays their own comunity then YES ! He made his choice now he can live with it !
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: You seem to suffer from some delusions yourself. I post the truth about the situation in this country. I also take into account the politics of other countries.
You are the one that wanted to throw a drink at someone. That is violent in its very nature. And tame? So what’s not tame for you? Beating someone with a golf club?
“It’s ludicrous that some on here post telling me I can’t be a Democrat if I’m financially conservative yet moderate to liberal on social issues. ”
Nobody is telling you that. You’re very much like Earl Ray Tomblin in my opinion. What we are telling you is this: financial conservatism is in contradiction with social liberialism. You can’t be both.
“So I can’t respect a dollar and how it is made? Invest that dollar and grow it?”
What a bunch of bullcrap. You want white collar criminals to make paper money and to send this country to the brink of economic ruin, so they can get more bail-outs by the government. You are all the same.
“And still think gays should be able to marry, women should have the right to abortion, pot should be legal, prostitution should be legal, etc?
If you believed in any of that, you would have never voted for someone as corrupt and as much of a dirtbag as Mitt Romney. You’re a total and complete fraud. Your last vote in a Presidential election says it all. You voted for a guy who was shady with his financial dealings and had a nefarious past when it came to raising money (check Mitt Romney’s ties to right wing Salvadoreans whom he took millions from, many of those Salvadoreans were tied to paramilitary groups that killed thousands of people).
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: THE TRUTH COMES OUT. This wingbag troll voted for Mitt Romney. As I said, Mitt Romney is a corrupt d-bag. If he didn’t have all his connections and ties, he would be on trial and possibility facing a jail sentence. Thanks for telling us you voted for a Bush and a Romney. You basically discredited yourself completely.
Blazipitous
“One of our own”.
STOP FUCKING CLAIMING PEOPLE!!!!!
enlightenone
@lauraspencer: “Honestly, my life hasn’t changed one bit no matter who has been in office. I still date who I want, I go to work and I pay bills and taxes.”
So you are one of those narcissistic LGBTQI’s!
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85:
You are correct about Romney when you say “who was shady with his financial dealings and had a nefarious past when it came to raising money”.
As I have said numerous times politicians are all the same for the most part. Your quote can also be applied to both Bill & Hillary Clinton as well. You have been keeping up with the press and their shady and nefarious financial dealings haven’t you?
lauraspencer
@enlightenone:
Nope. Not at all. Just working hard at my job (about to be promoted), paying my bills/mortgage/taxes, treating my parents and grandmother well, being respectful of others, obeying the law, et.al. Not sure what is narcissistic about taking care of myself.
I don’t have anyone else to take care of me so I have to do it.
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: No sorry. That’s not true. Romney’s past is far darker. Obama is an angel compared to him. Romney took money from right wing extremists who were tied to paramilitary groups in El Salvador. Big difference. And your attempt to go after Bill and Hillary Clinton has ended in a failure because there isn’t a comparison. You’re so full of shit.
@lauraspencer: Oh wow. I’m working hard at my job too and might be moving up very soon. Does that mean I’m going to suddenly become an “economic conservative”? Bullshit. You’re an economic conservative… that by its very definition fits narcissism. Economic conservatives are morally bankrupt and ignorant. They want government to shrink and turn a blind eye to white collar corporate crime.
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85:
Nite nite GianCrazy85! Get some rest. It must be exhausting having so much anger.
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: It must be exhausting being a morally bankrupt, ignorant and self depreciating economic conservative! Must be so tiring to justify your lack of integrity and defending long debunked economic views.
Merv
Mitt Romney was not a fiscal conservative. Fiscal conservatism means living within your means. One of the cornerstones of Romney’s 2012 campaign was that we weren’t spending enough on the military. He wanted big increases in military spending, despite the fact that the US spent more on the military than almost all the other countries combined, and despite the fact that we wasted $2 trillion on the Iraq war and ended up less secure afterwards.
enlightenone
@Giancarlo85: Re: LAURASPENCER – Keep tightening the noose, perhaps one day soon, I doubt it, this homo under a white sheet voice (comments) will be silenced. I can dream can’t I?
lauraspencer
@enlightenone:
Luke doesn’t like me in white so the sheet would probably be a print….stripes or possibly paisley. I do like White Shoulder perfume though!
Giancarlo85
@Merv: Oh please. It means nothing about living within your means. Fiscal conservatism is basically corporatism. Fiscal conservatism is irresponsible and dangerous to entire countries. It hurts millions of people, while lining the pockets of a few.
OhHellNo
I dream of a world where websites like this will limit comments on any page to 3 or 4 per person, so that those of us going through them don’t have to endure wading through a gay teenage bitch-fight to make it to intelligent opinions and assumptions on the actual topic of the page. But that’s just me.
brooklynbobby
@Patrick Cremeans: You know I really hate it when anyone feels the need to use pejorative language towards anyone. But I am especially horrified when people of any sort of group feels that compulsion to use those sorts of words towards their “own people”. Just because they people are making known their opinions to a question that was put to them by an editorial on the Queerty site doesn’t mean that they need to be called queens, fag, fairys, homos or any of the hateful terms you have at your disposal Mr Cremeans. It seems to me that the first line of your response should have been sufficient in your attempt at “sounding off” but apparently that was not good enough for you. Instead you took an I WILL HAVE THE LAST WORD attitude. And that is precisely what that was. Shame on you. In many ways this just makes you as bad as the two men being discussed her. Change your language, change your attitude, change your life young man. And I DO NOT want to have to hear from anyone about the “reclaiming” of these words to make them meaningless to our haters. That’s all just bull shit as far as I am concerned and it doesn’t let you off the hook for being ignorant and impolite towards people that you disagree with.