Petition Of The Day

Sign the petition. (Tipped by JMG reader Justin)

Marriott Welcomes Gay Weddings

Box Turtle Bulletin tips us that the Mormon-owned Marriott chain has begun welcoming gay weddings at their hotels.

Marriott hotels provide ideal venues for ceremonies honoring you and your partner. With luxurious hotels and stunning resorts all around the world, we offer the perfect settings and Planning Services for your most special day. Continue the magic of your union with the perfect honeymoon. With our Honeymoon Gift Registry, we make it possible for your friends and family to provide the get-away of your dreams.

Damage Control At Marriott

Marriott Hotels is doing some damage control in the face of calls for a boycott of the chain. Bill Marriott (emphasis mine):

As many of you may know I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some might conclude given my family's membership in the Mormon Church that our company supported the recent ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage in California. This is simply untrue. Marriott International is a public company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and is not controlled by any one individual or family. Neither I, nor the company, contributed to the campaign to pass Proposition 8.

The Bible that I love teaches me about honesty, integrity and unconditional love for all people. But beyond that, I am very careful about separating my personal faith and beliefs from how we run our business.

I am personally motivated to speak now because Marriott was built on the basic principles of respect and inclusion. My father, who founded this company along with my mother, told everyone who would listen: "Take care of your employees, and they'll take care of your customers, who will come back again and again."

For more than 80 years, our company has grown and changed, but that basic principle still holds up. We embrace all people as our customers, associates, owners and franchisees regardless of race, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.

Our principle is backed up with a formal diversity program, which we established more than 20 years ago. Our Board of Directors has also focused on this priority and helped us be a leader and a better company. We were among the first in our industry to offer domestic partner benefits, and we've earned a perfect 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index for two years in a row. Many of our hotels have hosted LGBT community functions and events for years.

I am very proud of all of our associates at Marriott. And I want all our associates and guests, whom we welcome into our hotels, to know that we embrace your talents and thank you for your many contributions and your business.

John Aravosis at AmericaBlog responds: "First, I'm sure Domino's and Coors probably weren't particular anti-gay companies per se. But the people running the company gave their money to some pretty nasty conservative causes. That money came from us, their customers. And I suspect Bill Marriott, as a good Mormon, gives 10% of his gross income to the Mormon church as is required. And the Mormon church is personally responsible for taking away our rights in California. We were winning on Prop 8 until the Mormons parachuted in and dropped as much as $20 million (one estimate is that Mormons gave 77% of the entire budget the bigots had to push Prop 8). The Mormons did this to us. So I have a problem with enriching Bill Marriott so that he can enrich bigots who take away our civil rights"

AFA: No Hotel Porn For You

The American Family Association, fresh off their Ford boycott, is now turning their guns on the gay and straight porn that Marriott Hotels offers on its pay-per-view system.

The AFA, based in Tupelo, said 47 "pro-family leaders'' have signed a letter asking chain's chief executive, J.W. Marriott Jr., for a meeting to discuss their concerns. Marriott was told that stopping "porn movies'' would be in keeping with the corporation's position of "promoting the well-being of children and families,'' AFA said in a news release.

Marriott's website says the hotel chain has about 3,000 properties in the U.S. and 67 other countries and territories. AFA said most of these hotels offer in-room movies with pornographic content. Roger Conner, vice president of communications for Marriott International, said Thursday the company would review the group's letter and the request for a meeting. Conner said Marriott and most hotel chains offer in-room entertainment that includes a wide range of films and "just one of those is adult offerings."

"Every guest can quickly and easily block out just the adult movie offering by either calling the front desk or using their (TV) remote pad in the room," Conner said. "It does not appear at all if the guest does not want the offering.''

UNRELATED: I've never ordered in-room porn, but the last time I was in a hotel, the "most viewed" title among the offerings was Camel-Toe Ho. We fell off the bed laughing.