L.A. Film Festival Director Rich Raddon Steps Down Over Prop. 8 Donation
Score one for the “off with his head” crowd. After donating $1,500 to the Yes on 8 Campaign, Film Independent’s Richard Raddon has stepped down as director of the L.A. Film Festival.
Raddon had previously tendered his resignation and the board unanimously refused to accept it, but that bit of political theatre failed to mollify the gay community and the threat of a massive gay boycott turned out to be enough to pressure Raddon to resign for real this time.
We told you yesterday how A-List gay Hollywood was divided on the issue, with older directors like Bill Condon arguing that those who donated to Prop. 8 saw it “not as a civil rights issue but a religious one. That is their right. And it is not, in and of itself, proof of bigotry” and younger, indie filmmakers like Gregg Araki countering:
“The bottom line is if he contributed money to a hateful campaign against black people, or against Jewish people, or any other minority group, there would be much less excusing of him. The terrible irony is that he runs a film festival that is intended to promote tolerance and equality.”
While conservatives will undoubtedly argue that the threat of boycott’s (they’ll probably term it something like “angry gay mob forces director from post”) will have a chilling effect on those who would speak up with their voices or wallets against marriage equality, our rejoinder is, “Yes, that’s the point.”
People have a right to speak up and say what they want or donate to a cause, but with that right comes the responsibility to live up to the consequences of their actions. If publicly donating to a cause that stripped the civil rights of many of the people you work with and for makes those people not want to support you or the organization you run, that choice was yours, not theirs. It was Raddon, not the gay community, that put the L.A. Film Festival at risk of a boycott and so, today’s resignation was his decision and nobody else’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
Why is it OK for organizations like the Catholic League to boycott Miller Beer over their support of the Folsom Street Festival, however once the shoe is on the other foot, we are blamed for being an angry thuggish mob. As far as I am concerned, I’ll spend my money where I want to – stay out of my wallet and I’ll allow you the same common courtesy.
If you truly believe in donating money to a cause, have the backbone to deal with the ramifications of your actions.
I’m beginning to feel less tolerant of religious people. How long should we stand idly by, convinced that we’re the better folks, tolerating religions that teach homosexuality is a sin?
The Incas and Aztecs worshiped the sun, the Norse worshiped thunder and lightning, the Egyptians worshiped their river god, and the Romans and Greeks worshiped the gods of the sea, the hunt, and war. These were inventions of human minds that were trying to cope with a reality that they couldn’t understand.
Isn’t that all modern day religions are? It’s very psychologically comforting to give up all of one’s troubles to some protector who is all powerful and all knowing. It’s very easy to deal with questioners of any tradition by pointing to a ‘holy’ book for all the answers. It’s much more difficult to accept that we are responsible for our own actions and that there are simply some things that are totally out of our control.
Why would someone in his position contribute to prop8. Is he a Mormon or a moron?
a) Condon is wrong. Araki/Queerty are right. Speech without criticism is not free speech. There are only certain types of societies in which there is speech without criticism. Those societies are not liberal democracies. They are typically dictatorships and/or opressive regimes. Free speech requires criticism.
b) What Condon describes as practicing faith sadly shows he does not understand American history or our democratic institutions. He’s a great filmmaker, but that does no make him a student of American government or history.
The founders of this country wanted to separate church from state precisely because of these sorts of issues. The history of the time was that of one form of Protestantism rising only to be persecuted by the older version through the governmental institutions available to oppressors. They ruled through the power of being in the majority. This allowed religious Christina minorities to be oppressed in fact rather than in theory. This happened repeatedly. The First Amendment was a response to that.
No one prevented Raddon from believing what he wants to believe. The issue is where it went from personal belief to government action. We are protesting his link to that government action.
The irony of Condon’s position is that the very thing he would have us protect- the right of the faithful to believe- is the precise thing that Raddon’s actions would destroy. We live in a diverse society. Some Christians are not only okay with gays, but also willing to marry us. Are their religious belief by act of the majority supposed to be oppressed?
This is why we require something more than faith as a basis for why we act in governmental actions. We do not wish to opress any faith. To do that requires taking faith out of the mix, because this sort of opression is inevitable.
It is so comforting to be here with like-minded human beings. I just wanna wail on the next religious wingnut that has the nerve to speak about “all the love.”
@The Gay Numbers:
Bill Condom’s “spin” talk on it is to save the industry from losing money and shame pure and simple. Afraid if they take a stand they’ll be boycotted from one side or another. As a Gay Man he should truly be ashamed.
@The Gay Numbers: Outstanding!! I’m not sure I’ve read many comments from you, Gay Numbers, but I hope I’ll be reading more! Call me Dave :-)
It’s up to us to come up with some leadership outside of Hollywood that the media will turn to on LGBT issues. Bill Condon does not speak for the common queer.
@The Gay Numbers:
Absolutely. Agree 100%.
And who said boycotts don’t work? People used there pocket books and influence against us, but some people think that okay,
after all its just freedom of religion. But when we gays exercise the same principals we are considered “off with your heads sorts”. We are not children and we do not have to buy into these manipulative
tricks that are being used by even our own kind to shut us up, control us, and make us go away. These gay people who are standing up for the other side are our Judas’. Let them go hang themselves just has he did.
OFF WITH HER HEAD!
I am so sick of fighting the good fight and then having our own people cut us off at the knees. Bill Condon is stabbing us in the back. He is a traitor and he should be scorned EVEN MORE than Rich Raddon.
Glad he resigned. He probably saves sacks of wheat and barley in his basement getting ready for the “rapture”.
How are we the off-with-their-heads crowd? If I find out someone I play with gives money to take away my rights, I’m not going to play with them any more. If they can’t back up their beliefs with some balls, then fuck them.
@ChristopherM: Don’t take the poster seriously. It’s called Orwellian logic. Up is down. Left is right. The oppressed are the oppressors. We take away their equal rights by fighting them after they take away ours. Free speech only exists if we do not get to speak. It’s meant to delink definitions from reality.
@dan halm: It would only be an analogous situation if Miller Beer was doing something to directly harm the legal rights of Catholics. Sponsoring a gay block party does not.
BILL CONDON WON’T SHUT UP:
“I’m personally saddened by the outcome,” said Film Independent board member Bill Condon, the writer-director of “Dreamgirls.” “Someone has lost his job and possibly his livelihood because of privately held religious beliefs. I think the organization was ready to tough this out, but Rich ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the cost. I’m not sure he was right.”
@ChicagoJimmy:
“I’m beginning to feel less tolerant of religious people. How long should we stand idly by, convinced that we’re the better folks, tolerating religions that teach homosexuality is a sin?”
Oooh…that is so good! That’s a saver.
Tolerant folks tolerating the intolerant.
Kind of like stepping into the boxing ring with one hand tied behind our back, isn’t it? And if we should happen to land a good blow, they immediately cry “no fairsies”.
I say, that the fucking boxing gloves of and put the brass knuckles on. Those who would speak bad of us and harm us have it coming.
I, for one, am sick of being told to take the high moral road, while we get shoved off the road.
Correction: “I say take the fucking boxing gloves off…”
Not all christians are wingnuts. I am a christian and I gave my time and money to try to defeat Prop 8. Let’s not alienate those who support equal rights by stereotyping it helps not hurts the cause. So if someone has a bone to pick with blacks, christians, mormons etc. on this issue lumping them all together as the enemy all on the basis of some ignorant people in those communities is counterproductive.
@Matthew: No let him continue to talk. Better to know who people are than to be left with doubts.
Gay Numbers: I see your point, and respect his right to free speech. It’s just so disappointing.
Fuck you Bill Condom. His money went directly to oppress my rights as a citizen of California. I didn’t do anything to be discriminated against but I was and by this asshole so if I want to boycott his company or organization for CONDONing a bigot, then it’s my rights. That right has NOT been taken away from me … yet. Continue to live in your little log cabin, uncle tom.
Bill Condon.
Just keep digging yourself deeper and deeper. I hope you are ready to hire Pat Boone for your next bit of film work.
Good riddance.
It’s nice to see the threats of boycotts are having effect; this “Oh, I’m sorry, did my vile homosexual rights upset your chihuahua” attitude has GOT TO GO.
Hell yes, off with their heads. Enough is enough.
Why do you all think Raddon has no backbone? Do you honestly think he didn’t know what he was doing? Of course he did. He DOES have a backbone that’s why he he didn’t donate anonymously. He stepped down, he’s not running the show anymore because he chose to support for something he believes in. I admire him. Move on and look for something or someone else to berate. Your anger and bitterness and scathing comments do nothing for your cause and detracts from anything positive you’re trying to do!
Thank you! I couldn’t agree more!
@Chris: donations are required to be disclosed by law.
Funny how all the bigotry supporters are like a bunch of scared girls, isn’t it?
“I’m not responsible for my religious choices! You have to RESPECT my bigotry!”
“You have NO RIGHT to launch a boycott of us! When we launched a boycott of YOU, it was FREE SPEECH, but we’re DECENT PEOPLE, not filthy ASS PIRATES like YOU are! You are DESTROYING our right to be jackasses!”
Etc., ad nauseum.
Yes, I know they have to be disclosed by law but he could have donated through someone else if he were trying to keep his identity a secret. There’s a million ways to support a cause without being found out.
Sorry, what is Brian Miller trying to say? Who is “you” ? Me?
@Chris: The point is to make the transaction cost of being a bigot more expensive. That’s why boycotts do. You aren’t going to reach everyone, but you reach enough that they think twice. This is the blunt force of boycotts. I am also pretty sure that what you describe would constitute fraud since other big companies and businesses could do the same thing. Be careful what you wish for just to protect a friend. That’s the problem with his Hollywood friend support such as Condon. They too are arguing mostly situationally rather than what it means. The religion argument for instance is a highly dangerous one. Because it essentially says any act of discrimination that someone feels to be religiously true should be supported as a matter of public policy against gays. This is the same argument used against other groups including blacks and women. Not that anyone cares about all of this. Despite the crisis in this country, we continue to be a short term benefits society moved by small minded people. The thing I like about the boycott idea is that it says people are willing to sacrifice in a way they have not before.
You seem like an intelligent person and not overly emotional. There are different ways to view your comment about religion and public policy. A gay person would see it at discrimination against gays and religious person in favor of Prop. 8 might see it as only preserving a traditional model of marriage and family that he/she believes in while (hopefully)not viewing it or intending it to be a direct attck on gays. If relatives wanted to get married (like that father and daughter in Aus. recently in the news who have been living together as a couple, who also have a child together) I personally, would not be in favor of that.