Wilson Cruz Demands Equinox Respond to His Membership Cancellation: ‘Don’t Make Me Come In’ … It ‘Won’t Be Pretty’
Actor Wilson Cruz, one of the first celebs to call for a boycott of Equinox following news that its chairman Stephen Ross was hosting a Trump fundraiser in the Hamptons, says he hasn’t heard back from the gym since he wrote in to cancel his membership, and he’s pissed.
To @Equinox, “..don’t make me come in to an actual gym because an in person meeting won’t be pretty. I’ve had more than enough of the posturing and obfuscation.” – WC pic.twitter.com/qmWmjMBqgW
Said Cruz: “Your tone deaf response to this matter to a clientele you have betrayed is beyond the pale … Don’t make me come in to an actual gym because an in person meeting won’t be pretty. I’ve had more than enough of the posturing and obfuscation.”
Added Cruz: “Stephen Ross’ fundraiser for Trump, your delayed and ridiculous response, the excuses you have made for Mr. Ross to the public and your employees and the audacity of Trump and Ross to LAUGH about this issue are disgusting.”
For more than a decade, HRC has held an annual summit for LGBTQ student leaders from many of the nation’s historically Black institutions. This year’s summit will take place in Washington, D.C., on November 7-12, 2019. To register, click here.
In 2018, 46 students representing 23 HBCUs from 10 states, Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands attended the summit. The five-day summit is the only leadership development and advocacy training program that empowers LGBTQ HBCU students to act as change-agents on their campuses and in their communities. Students leave with the skills and competence to lead resourcefully and effectively through the intersections of race, religion, gender identity and expression, class and sexual orientation.
The HRC Foundation’s HBCU Program mobilizes and supports HBCUs in enhancing policies and services that promote excellence in LGBTQ inclusion, equity and engagement. We focus on promoting individual competencies and collective action, empowering leaders and stakeholders and building a network of committed leaders in pursuit of eliminating stigma and enriching the college experience for LGBTQ students and the entire student body.
At last year’s summit, participants developed leadership skills in the key areas of self-awareness, awareness of others, courageous actions and collaboration to advocate for LGBTQ equality and other social justice issues. Topics covered included the intersection of race and sexual orientation, mental health and wellness, policing and the Black community, inclusive leadership and harnessing political power.
HRC’s HBCU Project was founded to support LGBTQ students at HBCUs by providing resources and trainings to advance affirming and supportive college campuses. The program is supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation. For more information about HRC’s HBCU Project, visit www.hrc.org//hbcu.
FEDERAL COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF GAVIN GRIMM, TRANSGENDER STUDENT BLOCKED BY SCHOOL DISTRICT FROM GENDER-SEGREGATED SPACES: “Every student should feel safe at school, regardless of gender identity. Transgender students are covered by Title IX and the United States Constitution and are entitled to the same rights and protections as every other student,” said Cathryn Oakley (@CthrynOkly), State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel. “With the Trump-Pence administration’s barrage of attacks on LGBTQ people in this country, including against students, we are pleased that yet another federal court decision has reaffirmed legal rights and dignity of transgender people. Congratulations to Gavin Grimm and the American Civil Liberties Union on this milestone victory.” More from HRC, Out Magazine, Advocate and Metro Weekly.
Great news! A federal court just reaffirmed the equal rights and dignity of transgender people, including trans youth. Huge congratulations to @ACLU and @GavinGrimmVA on this important victory. t.co/2yHgJjIyZE
MONDAY MUST READ — EXCLUSIVE DAILY BEAST INTERVIEW WITH VIRGINIA DELEGATE DANICA ROEM: As Roem, the state’s first openly transgender state legislator, campaigns for re-election, she faces yet another anti-LGBTQ opponent. After ousting “Chief Homophobe” Bob Marshall in 2017, Roem is now working to prevent Kelly McGinn from taking office. McGinn, a former staffer for Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), has campaigned against marriage equality, reproductive health care and non-discrimination policies for LGBTQ Americans. More from Tim Teeman (@TimTeeman) at The Daily Beast.
NEO-NAZI, ANTI-LGBTQ EXTREMIST ARRESTED FOR PLANNING ATTACK ON LGBTQ & JEWISH PEOPLE: Said HRC President Alphonso David, in a Twitter thread: “We are extremely alarmed to hear that Conor Climo, who was arrested last night in Las Vegas, was allegedly planning to attack a synagogue and LGBTQ bar. While Climo’s actions are concerning, they are not in a vacuum. Dangerous & hateful rhetoric start at the top levels of government and heavily influence and impact the rest of American society. Each and every day, the Trump-Pence administration has sought to dehumanize LGBTQ people, undermine our rights and treat us like second class citizens. HRC will hold the Trump administration and all elected officials who fuel the flames of hate accountable at the ballot box.” More from HRC.
TODAY MARKS ONE YEAR SINCE THE HORRIFIC VIOLENCE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: Today, we honor Heather Heyer, who was killed during the horrific violence that took place in Charlottesville two years ago, and Khalid Jabara, who was also the victim of a violent hate crime in Tulsa three years ago. Reporting hate crimes like these to the FBI is voluntary. As a result, thousands of law enforcement agencies are not reporting these crimes — that means they are undercounted, and we do not have accurate data. That’s why HRC supports the Jabara Heyer NO HATE Act, which would promote more accurate hate crime data collection and assist hate crime victims.
HRC’S CHARLOTTE CLYMER CALLS ON TRUMP-PENCE ADMIN TO PROTECT TRANS HEALTH:
.@HRC joined coalition partners in demanding access to quality health care for all people.
PBS NEWS HOUR SPEAKS TO LGBTQ ASYLUM SEEKERS FACING ATTACKS BOTH IN HOME COUNTRIES AND WHILE IN U.S. CUSTODY: Get the full story from PBS.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE COCA-COLA AD UPSETS HUNGARY CONSERVATIVES: The battle over billboards and campaigns is part of a worrying backlash against LGBTQ rights in parts of Europe. More from The New York Times.
MURDER OF TRANS WOMAN SPARKS FEAR OF RISING ANTI-LGBTQ VIOLENCE IN ECUADOR: More from Openly.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break! BBC shares the story of a “Rainbow Caravan,” LGBTQ people from Central America and Mexico who traveled to the U.S. to seek refuge; Washington Post features D.C. barbershop and art gallery offering insight into LGBTQ community — and free haircuts; Billboard highlights experiences of LGBTQ songwriters in the music industry at Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter’s inaugural Pride Summit.
Equinox Execs Cover for Trump Supporter Stephen Ross in Leaked Call with Freaked Out Employees
Equinox executives tried to alleviate panic among employees freaked out that gym members were canceling memberships in the wake of news that Chairman Stephen Ross was holding a Trump fundraiser in the Hamptons.
The Cut reports on the call and has details: “In the days since the Washington Post first reported Ross’s fundraiser for Trump, employees have called for protests and swarms of people have canceled their memberships, compelling Equinox president Scott Rosen and COO Judy Turchin to hold a call to assure employees with messaging of unity and company values. And yet, they attempted to do so while also defending Ross’s values and insisting he does not align himself with Trump.”
Said one employee on the call: “I know it’s not our views but this goes beyond just LGBTQ, it goes with children being put in cages, people being deported, children dying, mass murders happening because of rhetoric that [Trump] states. The whole thing is that even though [Ross] is an investor, the money that people pay to Equinox still goes in his pocket, and they know that, and that is the problem. Equinox can say, ‘We don’t view this, we don’t view this,’ as much as they want, but the problem is that the money people are spending is enriching him, and he is giving it to this person that is really polarizing.”
Replied Rosen: “I will tell you one thing: He’s actually a very good guy, he’s making a huge mistake here. He actually doesn’t agree with a lot of what Donald Trump says, and I actually think he voted for Hillary. Not that it matters, because he’s maybe made a stupid move here and it’s not us. We define us.”
And one New York City Councilman is making it easier for people to cancel memberships. “I am drafting legislation that would make it easier to cancel memberships at businesses, like gyms or fitness clubs,” New York City councilman Keith Powers tweeted Friday. “The recent Equinox experiences highlighted what many New Yorkers experience daily — a complicated maze just to cancel a single membership.”
I am drafting legislation that would make it easier to cancel memberships at businesses, like gyms or fitness clubs.
The recent Equinox experiences highlighted what many New Yorkers experience daily — a complicated maze just to cancel a single membership. t.co/36Bs3bi5M3
And writer, activist, and radio host Michelangelo Signorile took matters into his own hands.
Wrote Signorile on Facebook: “Something I did the other morning on my run: I had printed out a stack of an NBC News story about the Equinox boycott because of the owner’s Trump fundraiser. And I went to Equinox/Soul Cycle in Chelsea and handed them out to people entering and exiting. I did this for 45 minutes and had 4 people who went in and came out and had canceled their memberships. Other people were coming to cancel, say goodbye to trainers. The manager came out and told me she called the police. I was on public property, as I told her, and there wasn’t anything the police could do. (They never did come.)”
“Here’s the most important point,” Signorile added. “While many knew of the Trump fundraiser in the Hamptons, many did not, and were horrified. We think in this age of cell phones and TVs everywhere that people are paying attention to everything. They are not. That’s indeed one reason we got Trump! This underscores why it’s important to get in the streets and engage people, still to this day.”
“One guy was an asshole (Angrily dismissing me with an, “I’m not political!”),” Signorile continued. “Another guy said “I don’t support Trump but people have a right to donate to who they want,” blah blah and claimed to be a Dem fundraiser himself and with the DNC’s LGBT whatever committee (Screw you!). Others clearly didn’t want to engage. But most were open and friendly. Two women who came to the juice bar said that’s it for them with Soul Cycle. People talked to me for a while, and while some, as I said, did cancel right away (according to what they told me upon exiting), others said they would think about it and were leaning that way. One guy asked me permission to take one more class (haha.) I said fine.”
Added Signorile: “The manager said to me, after a woman had come out saying she canceled, ‘Think about the people you’re hurting!’ Mind you, all I was doing was informing people of something and engaging them in discussion — not hurting anyone. I guess she meant the workers — but we’ve been through this many times with boycotts. It’s unfortunate, but we have to send a message to owners and they are the ones hurting everyone, including their employees.”
Signorile suggested people do what he did: “Anyway, any of you can do this — just print out copies of your favorite articles. It’s a few minutes of your time on the way to work or whatever. Be polite. The customers aren’t the enemy — even if some might get nasty — and obviously they like their gym. (I’m a former Equinox member, so I understand; I gave them suggestions on other gyms). But many also understand why this is important and will at least think about it.”
The city’s elite patronized the hotel from day one, and it was the epicenter of business and politics in New York. Tweed held court there when managing public affairs as the head of Tammany Hall, a powerful Democratic political machine.
His downfall, however, transformed the Metropolitan into an unlikely monument to scandal. Boss Tweed had bankrupted the city by embezzling funds while building himself a vast business empire.
Today, politics is again a place to make a fortune, at least for one prominent politician. Shortly before winning the 2016 election, Donald Trump celebrated the grand opening of Trump International Hotel, down the street from the White House. In 2018 alone, the D.C. hotel generated US$40 million in revenue by drawing heavily from a clientele with government business.
Unlike other modern presidents, Trump refuses to divest from personal business, raising the question where the search for profit ends and his public service begins.
But if the situation appears new, it is hardly unprecedented.
Boss Tweed, depicted by cartoonist Thomas Nast in Harper’s Weekly in 1871. Wikipedia
Party business
The Gilded Age, which lasted from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the 20th century, was a period when wealth flowed from success in politics.
Leaders in both parties became powerful and rich, building personal influence, crafting alliances, generating money and constructing the political machines necessary to win elections – all while serving in government.
When researching my upcoming book, “Electoral Capitalism: The Party System In New York’s Gilded Age,” I found political fortunes that were quite impressive. Politicians in New York and elsewhere made themselves into some of the country’s earliest millionaires.
During that period, what qualified individuals for party leadership was their ability to use the electoral system to finance a range of personal and political ventures.
As state senator, he supported the legislative charter of new savings banks headed by himself and other Tammany politicians. The capital of these banks came from city funds which Tweed controlled from his seat on the Board of Audit, corporate donors looking for political favors, religious charities receiving public subsidies and immigrant workers, who were encouraged to deposit their earnings. These Tammany banks helped to make Tweed the third-largest landowner in New York City.
The banking house Morton, Bliss & Company was built upon marketing U.S. government debt, a lucrative privilege secured by party connections in the Grant administration. Levi P. Morton then used his private firm to manage the personal finances of the day’s most influential Republicans, from Roscoe Conkling to James Blaine, before becoming himself a congressman, vice president and governor.
Morton’s firm sold U.S. debt in every administration from the 1870s onward, with the exception of the Democratic President Grover Cleveland, before selling to J.P. Morgan in 1909 and going into retirement as one of the wealthiest men of the day.
1881 cartoon, ‘This is not the New York Stock Exchange, it is the patronage exchange, called U.S. Senate.’ Roscoe Conkling and Thomas Platt are to the right of Chester Arthur, who was president. Library of Congress, J.A. Wales artist
Gilded democracy
The politicans’ newfound wealth – mansions on Fifth Avenue or buying race tracks – generated a public outcry over the so-called “bogus aristocracy.”
Where did the public till end and the private purse begin? It was not so clear. Virtually no laws, state or federal, existed to prevent self-dealing or embezzlement.
Private property was often treated as sacrosanct, however acquired, and politicians were skilled in making arguments about their fortune’s legitimacy. Fernando Wood became a millionaire by flipping public land during his several mayoral terms. Yet, throughout a long career Wood maintained he was a respectable “merchant.” Critics questioned his reputation, but they could do little else.
Personal enrichment was encouraged through public office-holding because profits fueled party politics. Then, as now, elections were expensive. Party committees were always in need of cash infusions. Few questions were asked about the origins of donated funds.
This period was also the spoils system’s heyday, when parties rewarded their supporters by giving them jobs and contracts.
Thomas Platt climbed the party ladder to the presidency of the U.S. Express Company by securing it generous federal subsidies as a congressman. Platt’s family took advantage of sweetheart company loans and paid themselves huge salaries.
Is politics a legitimate way to become wealthy? Historical debates help to consider the role of money in politics today.
During the 19th century’s final decades, mass movements of farmers and laborers protested loudly against the growing wealth of politicians, as living conditions for them worsened.
Reformers from across the political spectrum believed the sudden growth of political fortunes was part of the problem – a “conspiracy of officeholders” is what George William Curtis, head of the Civil Service Reform Association, called it.
Still, no easy consensus was reached on the proper remedy.
Where reformers did agree was in the view that democracy was more than just another place to do business. Otherwise, competition shifts among politicians from a struggle for votes to a scramble over dollars, and the only policies advanced are those that line the pockets of party leaders and their patrons.
