New York Times: Hotelier Ian Reisner DID Make A Campaign Donation To Ted Cruz

Via the New York Times:

When the gay hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass found themselves under siege for hosting a dinner for Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who is running for president and has been vociferously opposed to same-sex marriage, they repeatedly stressed that the event was not a fund-raiser.

“There were no checks given, it was nothing like that,” Mr. Reisner told New York magazine, after The New York Times first reported on the mid-April dinner at the Central Park South penthouse. Protests and calls for boycotts of Mr. Reisner’s and Mr. Weiderpass’s properties, including their groundbreaking hotel for gay clientele, the Out NYC, ensued.

As it turns out, Mr. Reisner himself wrote a check to Mr. Cruz’s presidential campaign, making a $2,700 donation — the maximum allowed in a nominating contest — around the time the dinner took place. But shortly after The Times reported on the dinner, where about 18 people sat down at two tables in separate areas of the palatial penthouse, Mr. Reisner called the campaign and asked for his check to be refunded.

“In the interest of transparency, I gave Senator Cruz a $2,700 check to show my support for his work on behalf of Israel,” Mr. Reisner said in a statement he provided after The Times learned of the donation from two people with direct knowledge of it. “When I realized his donation could be misconstrued as supporting his anti-gay marriage agenda, I asked for the money back. Senator Cruz’s office gave the money back, and I have no intention of giving any money to any politicians who aren’t in support of L.G.B.T. issues.”

According to the Times, Mati Weiderpass "seemed surprised" to learn about Reisner's donation when asked about it last night at an event at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. At last night's event, one of the speakers just happened to be Ted Cruz. (Tipped by JMG reader Bill)

Mecca To Get World's Biggest Hotel

Via the Guardian:

Four helipads will cluster around one of the largest domes in the world, like sideplates awaiting the unveiling of a momentous main course, which will be jacked up 45 storeys into the sky above the deserts of Mecca. It is the crowning feature of the holy city’s crowning glory, the superlative summit of what will be the world’s largest hotel when it opens in 2017. With 10,000 bedrooms and 70 restaurants, plus five floors for the sole use of the Saudi royal family, the £2.3bn Abraj Kudai is an entire city of five-star luxury, catering to the increasingly high expectations of well-heeled pilgrims from the Gulf. Modelled on a “traditional desert fortress”, seemingly filtered through the eyes of a Disneyland imagineer with classical pretensions, the steroidal scheme comprises 12 towers teetering on top of a 10-storey podium, which houses a bus station, shopping mall, food courts, conference centre and a lavishly appointed ballroom.

According to Euromonitor, Mecca ranks 17th in international visitors annually.

Hotelier Ian Reisner Continues Apology Tour, Donates $20K To Fire Island PAC

Per the president of the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association, the below apology from Manhattan hotelier Ian Reisner was read at the group's meeting over the weekend.

Dear Members of our Community, First I want to clear up that Mati Weiderpass has zero involvement or ownership in the Pines. Now let me state unequivocally that I made mistakes. While my initial intention was bi-partisan dialogue about National & Israeli security, I've come to learn that intentions and outcomes are different things. The outcomes of my actions are that I've deeply hurt our community - and I am truly sorry. In order to help build a stronger community I am taking the following steps: I am renewing and redoubling my commitment as an ardent supporter of LGBT causes. I will continue to invest my resources in the Pines, its cultural programs and activities that celebrate the diversity and acceptance of its community members, so that it always holds its rightful place in LGBT history. To this end, today I made a donation to the 'FIPPOA-PAC' -- matching All funds raised in its last active year -- which supports politicians committed to the Pines and to LGBT issues.  More so, I will be donating profits from my Pines Investment this summer to the following organizations that I have supported in the past: The LGBT Community Center in NYC & The Jerusalem Open House, as well as to 'Equality Texas' which fights for LGBT rights on one of this countries more challenging fronts. Further, I am in the process of hiring a Director of Community Affairs to serve as a liaison with various LGBT organizations and to guide me in better serving our community.

The donation was reportedly $20,000.

NOTE: High season on Fire Island kicks off this weekend. It will be interesting to hear reports on attendance at Reisner's businesses there.

Hotels Seek To Block WiFi Hotspots

Via the Wall Street Journal:

An industry group that includes Marriott International Inc. has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for guidance on whether hotels are acting within the law when they disable unauthorized WiFi access points set up on their properties. The hotels say they are trying to make sure their own wireless networks don’t get bogged down and to prevent criminals from tricking people into logging onto fake WiFi networks. The issue is a flash point for some consumers who believe hotels are trying to force people to use hotel Internet WiFi service—often for a price. And it has broader implications for how convention halls, companies and hospitals manage what has become a must-have communications service. The hotel group says the law against willful interference of communications signals shouldn’t apply to WiFi, because it doesn’t use licensed spectrum.

Yesterday the New York Times editorialized against the petition, calling the claim that WiFi frequencies aren't licensed in the first place an "absurd argument." Last summer Marriott was fined $600K for blocking signals at its hotel and convention complex in Nashville.

Hotel Chains Step Up Digital Services

Hilton Hotels is spending $550M on a program that will allow guests to choose their rooms, check in, and open their rooms with their smartphones.

The company plans to announce this week new technology intended for its 4,200 properties world-wide. Targeting younger travelers, Hilton is aiming to leapfrog competitors that already have rolled out new services like turning mobile phones into room keys. Guests already can check in and check out with a few punches on a smartphone or tablet-computer screen at all of Hilton's hotels in the U.S., the company said. By the end of summer, travelers will be able to see the location of and select their own rooms by mobile phone at six brands, from the midscale Hilton Garden Inn to the luxury Waldorf Astoria. Next year, Hilton says, arriving guests can begin using their smartphones to unlock the doors to their rooms, rather than waiting on any lines clogging the front desk to pick up a key. That feature will be available at most of the company's hotels world-wide by the end of 2016.

Starwood is also testing phone-based room keys and expects to launch their program at all W Hotels by next year. Other major chains have similar plans.

LOS ANGELES: Stars And Activists Protest Brunei's Brutal Sharia Laws

The top clip features a rousing speech by Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lori Jean.

Another Credit Card Hacking

The recent spate of credit card hacking has expanded to major hotel chains.

White Lodging -- a company that maintains Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton and Westin hotel franchises -- has apparently suffered a data breach that exposed guests' credit and debit card information in 2013, independent security researcher Brian Krebs said. Banking industry sources noticed fraud among hundreds of cards that had been previously used at Marriott hotels, wrote Krebs, who first reported that Target had suffered a massive data breach around Black Friday last year. "But those same sources said they were puzzled by the pattern of fraud, because it was seen only at specific Marriott hotels, including locations in Austin, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Louisville and Tampa," Krebs wrote. "Turns out, the common thread among all of those Marriott locations is that they are managed" by White Lodging, he said. White Lodging, which is based in Merrillville, Indiana, issued a statement Sunday night in response to the findings. "An investigation is in progress, and we will provide meaningful information as soon as it becomes available," White Lodging said in a statement.

The number of possibly affected hotel customers has not been disclosed.

BRITAIN: Supreme Court Rules Against Anti-Gay Bed & Breakfast Owners

Britain's Supreme Court has ruled against the owners of a bed & breakfast who were fined after refusing to rent a room to a gay couple.

Hazelmary and Peter Bull refused to let civil partners Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall stay in a double room at Chymorvah House in Marazion in Cornwall in 2008. The couple, who had already lost cases at Bristol County Court and the Court of Appeal, said they were "saddened". Mr and Mrs Bull have said they regard any sex outside marriage as a "sin". The Bulls denied discriminating against Mr Hall and Mr Preddy, who are from Bristol. Sixty-nine-year-old Mrs Bull and her 74-year-old husband said their decision was founded on a "religiously-informed judgment of conscience". Five Supreme Court justices ruled against them on Wednesday after analysing the case at a hearing in London in October.

In September the Bulls announced that they were closing their inn due to a plummeting occupancy rate. (Tipped by JMG reader Paolo)

BRITAIN: Christian Bed & Breakfast Closes After Fines For Rejecting Gays

Two years after they were fined £3,600 for refusing to rent a room to a gay couple, the Christian owners of a British bed and breakfast say they are closing down due to a plummeting occupancy rate.

They say they have been forced into selling their nine bed hotel for £750,000 because last winter they "were actually shivering and were hungry." But Mrs Bull fears they will be forced to accept much less for it, because their lack of visitors has left them on the brink of bankruptcy. She said: "We were optimistic in the spring. Why wouldn’t we be with the summer ahead of us? We have had a better summer than we thought but nowhere near good enough to pay our way. We were not even half-full. We must have been the only place in west Cornwall that had rooms left." Mounting bills and political pressure has left the Bulls feeling their belief system as well as their business has been demolished. Mrs Bull added: "It was a gradual process; we just noticed more and more that we couldn’t make the mortgage repayments."

While the couple blames their woes on the loss of their "religious liberties" and claims to have received death threats, the above-linked Daily Mail tabloid notes that internet reviews from recent customers have savaged the hotel for being "unclean and shabby" and for proselytizing to guests. (The front desk was probably the first clue.) Nevertheless, this news will doubtlessly be added to the litany of homofascism claims by American hate groups.

Waldorf Gets Deco Makeover

I'd always rather enjoyed the faded opulence of the Waldorf-Astoria's lobby, but this makeover of their west entrance looks grand. From their Facebook page: "Meet our newly restored Park Avenue Lobby! We referenced blueprints from when the lobby opened in 1931 to create a truly authentic Art Deco feel. Have you stopped by to take a look? If you do, stay for a drink!" Embiggen for glamor.

A Loo With A View

Restrooms in the lounge atop Manhattan's Standard Hotel include floor-to-ceiling windows in each stall, providing users and people on the street with an interesting view.

Headline Of The Day

For once I can't entirely disagree with the National Review. While my "hotel" isn't nearly as bad as the one they describe, it's certainly quite shabby.

VERMONT: Inn Loses Suit, Must Pay $30K For Turning Away Lesbian Couple

Vermont's Wildflower Inn has been fined $30,000 for turning away a lesbian couple that wanted to hold their wedding reception there. The couple was represented by the ACLU, who convinced the Vermont Human Rights Commission that the inn had violated state law on public accommodations. The losing Alliance Defense Fund denounces the decision:

“Every American should be free to live and do business consistent with their deeply held beliefs,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Byron Babione. “It is unfortunate when a state agency teams up with the ACLU to harass and punish a private family business over its owners’ constitutionally protected thoughts and beliefs. Legal attacks like this one are not pursuits for justice, but attempts to coerce and police private expression.”

Blogger VT Digger has more:

According to the settlement, the Wildflower Inn was acting in good faith and in compliance with a 2005 decision by the Vermont Human Rights Commission that said that while no public establishment may refuse to serve a customer based on sexual orientation, the inn could advise potential customers of the owners’ Catholic beliefs. Based on that decision, the Wildflower Inn’s stated policy was to ignore all calls and emails from same-sex couples hoping to host a wedding or reception at the inn. If confronted, their policy was to advise the couple that the owners did not believe in same-sex marriage, but would host the reception if they really wanted to.

ACLU-Vermont attorney Dan Barrett gets to the heart of the decision: "What this settlement makes clear is that you can’t discourage and get away with it. Discouragement or any unequal treatment of LGBT customers is [legally] the same as an outright refusal." The winning couple says they will donate the "largest chunk" of their settlement to the Trevor Project.

FLORIDA: HIV-Positive Man Arrested After Alleged Rape At Orlando Gay Hotel

Orlando police say they've arrested an HIV-positive man after he allegedly raped a male patron in a hotel room at the famed Parliament House.

Kenneth Creuzer, 48, told investigators the door to the man's room was open, so he walked in and assaulted him as he lay on his stomach, a police report states. Leaving a door ajar and the blinds open while lying facedown is known as an invitation to sex, Creuzer told investigators. The man told officers he was asleep about 3:05 p.m. when he heard someone come in and assumed it was his boyfriend. When he realized it was not, he began to punch Creuzer, who ran out of the room, according to the report. Creuzer and the man are strangers, and Creuzer was not a guest at the motel, which is part of a resort that includes bars, a restaurant, pool parties and female-impersonator shows. Parliament House, at 410 N. Orange Blossom Trail, calls itself "the gayest place on Earth" and "a gay landmark" on its website.

The suspect has been charged with sexual battery and failing to disclose his HIV status. The long-popular Parliament House has been an alternately beloved and notorious Florida destination for tourists since it converted into a gay hotel in 1975.

New Jersey Bed & Breakfast Owner Tells Lesbian Mom: God Invented AIDS So That We Don't Have To Serve Queers

After noticing the above sign outside of a New Jersey bed and breakfast, one lesbian mom took to their Facebook page to express disappointment that her family was clearly unwelcome there. Camp Whitebriar responded:

Isn't it wonderful Joanne Fraschilla, that you and your son can enjoy the animals here because I have a traditional marriage with a husband who works with me 90 hours a week to take care of these animals, and the summer camp....we're 66-68 years old....there were no gays or queers in our time.....if two old ladies chose to live together..so be it, let them deal with God when they get there...but to have the "face sucking" thrown in my face of two gay lesbians who are totally destroying the "normal balance in a child's life" as you claim your son...where is the role model that your son needs to know how to act like a man? or will he only see the "one sided selfishness" of a "single parent"...and end up an out cast in society by being "gay" himself because he didn't have a father as a role model. I'll pray for you....remember what the bible says: "Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas".....guess that's why God invented aids.... THIS LOCAL BUSINESS WILL BE ONE MAN ONE WOMAN ONE GOD MAKES MARRIAGE....AND PROUD TO DO SO....YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Below is a screenshot of the exchange. Joianna has created a Change.org petition asking for an apology.
UPDATE: JMG reader Scott tips us that Camp Whitebriar's owner (and presumably the person who wrote their Facebook response) was a candidate for the New Jersey Senate last year. She lost in the GOP primary with only 416 votes.UPDATE II: Delving deeper in the above Senate campaign bio, we learn that Lokan-Moore is a member of the NRA, a member of the Daughters Of The Confederacy (shocker), and is the president of the South Jersey B&B Association, which appears to have no web presence.

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.

SAN DIEGO: Anti-Gay Activist Turns Local Newspaper Into Wingnut Mouthpiece

San Diego hotel magnate and Proposition 8 backer Doug Manchester bought the local daily newspaper last year. And since then the paper has become a relentless shill for anti-gay and anti-progressive causes. The New York Times observes:

Mr. Manchester is anti-big government, anti-tax and anti-gay marriage. And he’s in favor of a remade San Diego centered around a new downtown waterfront stadium and arena. Public agencies that have not gotten the hint have found themselves investigated in the news pages of The U-T. A sports columnist who was skeptical of the plans found himself out of a job, and the newspaper has published front-page editorials and wraparound sections to promote political allies who share its agenda. According to several employees at the paper, a feature called “Making a Difference” has included flattering profiles of many of Mr. Manchester’s associates. The oddest part? Mr. Manchester and the chief executive, John T. Lynch, who also owns part of the paper, are completely open about their motives. “We make no apologies,” Mr. Lynch said by telephone on Friday. “We are doing what a newspaper ought to do, which is to take positions. We are very consistent — pro-conservative, pro-business, pro-military — and we are trying to make a newspaper that gets people excited about this city and its future.”

BACKGROUND: After Manchester's $125,000 donation to Protect Marriage was made public, a boycott of his San Diego hotels was launched, costing the properties millions in lost convention business. Manchester then offered LGBT groups blocks of free hotel rooms with a value that equaled his Prop 8 donation, an olive branch that was refused. In 2009 Manchester's wife of 43 years launched an ugly divorce proceeding that included claims that he had forged her name on an $8M tax refund check. In 2010 his hotel hosted the wedding of Ladyfingers Prejean. Manchester has been lauded by GOProud, who broke the boycott and hosted an event at one of his hotels.

CHICAGO: Labor Controversy As Leather Event May Cross Host Hotel Picket Lines

The 34th annual International Mister Leather convention is taking place this weekend in Chicago, where attendees at the host hotel could potentially face a picket line over a long-running union labor dispute.

The Hyatt Regency Chicago, site of the recent competitions, has been at the center of a bitter a contract fight with workers represented by the union UNITE HERE since 2009. The workers, union spokeswoman Annemarie Strassel said, want one room per day subtracted from their quota to compensate for the fact that they have to get down on their hands and knees to clean floors, rather than using a long-handled mop. They also want better job security. UNITE HERE brands Hyatt "the worst employer in the hotel industry," and it asks that supporters "not eat, meet or sleep at Hyatt." UNITE HERE has been asking International Mr. Leather to relocate its convention since at least 2010 — and last year, one LGBT website accused the organization of "crossing picket lines" by continuing to hold events at the Hyatt. The convention leaders, however, dismiss the union's charges — and accuse the union of playing on popular discomfort with their subculture. Jon Krongaard, coordinator of International Mr. Leather, says "there is no picket line," and all he and his organization have seen are "random walkouts."

The "one LGBT website" cited above appears to be that of the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network, which last fall had called on IML organizers to relocate the event, saying that event founder Chuck Renslow was showing "disrespect to work-place issues." According to the above-linked news item, IML claims it would have a faced a $700K loss had it broken its 2012 contract with the Hyatt Regency. Additionally, a spokesman claims that union supporters have harassed at least one IML attendee by calling his place of employment and outing him as a member of the fetish community.

BRITAIN: Christian Hotel Loses Appeal To Refuse Service To Same-Sex Couples

In a case watched closely in the United States, today a British hotelier lost his court battle to have the right to refuse accommodations to same-sex couples.

The Court of Appeal has today upheld a landmark court ruling in favour of a gay couple refused a room by the religious owners of Cornwall hotel. Martin Hall and Steven Preddy, civil partners, had successfully sued devout Christians Peter and Hazelmary Bull for sexual orientation discrimination. They had been turned away from the Chymorvah Hotel near Penzance in 2008 under the Bulls’ policy of not allowing unmarried couples to share rooms. In January 2011 a judge at Bristol County Court ruled that the Bulls’ behaviour amounted to direct discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and awarded a total of £3,600 damages to Mr Hall and Mr Preddy.

Ever since the first ruling in this case, American hate groups have cited it as an example of the coming avalanche of "religious oppression" in the United States. Today's decision will surely make it into the stump speeches of anti-gay candidates.

"Marriage Defender" Doug Manchester Buys San Diego's Daily Newspaper

Hotel kingpin and Prop 8 backer Doug Manchester has purchased San Diego's Union-Tribune for $110 million. And locals can expect some big changes.

What happens when that brash, bold, confrontational man steps into the newsroom of the region's largest newspaper? John Lynch, the former local radio executive who will become the newspaper's new president and CEO, offered a preview Thursday night of that future. Some parts of the paper may stay the same. Lynch and Manchester want its publisher, Ed Moss, and its editor, Jeff Light, to stay. Lynch said he doesn't foresee the print product disappearing for at least a decade. But Lynch said he wants the paper to be pro-business. The sports page to be pro-Chargers stadium. And reporters to become stars. "It's news information, but it's also show biz," Lynch said. "You get people to tune in and read your site or the paper when there's an 'Oh wow' in the paper."

BACKGROUND: After Manchester's $125,000 donation to Protect Marriage was made public, a boycott of his San Diego hotels was launched, costing the properties millions in lost convention business. Manchester then offered LGBT groups blocks of free hotel rooms with a value that equaled his Prop 8 donation, an olive branch that was refused. In 2009 Manchester's wife of 43 years launched an ugly divorce proceeding that included claims that he had forged her name on an $8M tax refund check. Last year his hotel hosted the wedding of Ladyfingers Prejean.