The State Bar of California will not
hold its 2011 annual meeting at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego,
site of an on-going boycott by a coalition of gay rights groups and
union leaders, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise reported.
The group held its 2009 event at the
hotel over the objections of gay groups and had planned to return in
2011. The group, however, has announced it'll convene in Long Beach
next year and Monterey this year.
Californians
Against Hate first launched the boycott against Doug Manchester's
two San Diego hotels, the Manchester Grand Hyatt and the Grand Del
Mar, in July 2008 after the hotelier donated $125,000 to the campaign
to ban gay marriage in California, Proposition 8.
“We commend the leadership of the
California State Bar Association for moving its 2011 convention away
from the Manchester Grand Hyatt,” Fred Karger, founder of
Californians Against Hate, told On Top Magazine in an email.
“After all the conflict at their convention last summer held at
Doug Manchester's hotel, I am sure their members will be happy to go
to a hotel that is not being boycotted by the LGBT community and
UNITE HERE! Local 30 because of Manchester's $125,000 contribution to
take away marriage equality from millions of Californians.”
Earlier in the month, the American
Psychological Association (APA) announced it would reduce its use of
the Manchester Grand Hyatt when it descends on San Diego to hold its
annual convention in August.
The APA Convention, which draws up to
14,000 attendees, will take place at the San Diego Convention Center.
However, the Manchester Grand Hyatt is one of three hotels to be
used for governance meetings, social events and guest accommodations.
“The number of governance meetings
and social events taking place at the Hyatt has been greatly
reduced,” APA Spokeswoman Rhea Farberman said
in an email.
Approximately 30 meetings are honoring
the boycott and meeting elsewhere, including the group's governing
body, the Council of Representatives.
While the APA says the boycott has
influenced its actions and is supportive of the effort, a
spokesperson for the State Bar told the paper that moving its 2011
annual meeting had nothing to do with the controversy.
By most accounts the boycott has been
successful. A conservative estimate, Karger said, would be $18
million in lost revenues for the Manchester Grand Hyatt alone.