The intolerance of the "gay mafia"

Gay Businessman Who Hosted Ted Cruz Event Apologizes

Ian Reisner, one of the two gay hoteliers facing boycott calls for hosting an event for Senator Ted Cruz, who is adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage, apologized to the gay community for showing “poor judgment.” 

Mr. Reisner put the apology on Facebook, where a page calling for a boycott of his properties, the gay-friendly OUT NYC hotel and his Fire Island Pines holdings, had gotten more than 8,200 “likes” by Sunday evening. 

“I am shaken to my bones by the emails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days. I made a terrible mistake,” wrote Mr. Reisner. 

The New York Times first reported on the event, a dinner and on April 20, at the duplex Mr. Reisner and his business partner Mati Weiderpass co-own on Central Park South in Manhattan. The event was a “fireside chat” for about a dozen people, but was not a fund-raiser.

The two men are prominent figures in the gay rights community, and Mr. Reisner has been especially vocal about same-sex marriage. He’s also a staunch supporter of Israel, as is Mr. Cruz.

But Mr. Cruz has also introduced legislation to try to preserve the rights of states to maintain their bans on same-sex marriage and he has called for pastors to hold prayer services while the Supreme Court hears arguments on April 28 over the legality of the bans.

Last week, Mr. Reisner and another attendee said Mr. Cruz didn’t explicitly say he opposed same-sex marriage at the catered dinner, but said that the issue was best left to the states. Mr. Cruz, who is hoping to appeal to evangelical voters in the Iowa caucuses, said he had voiced his strong religious opposition to same-sex marriage at the dinner. 

Mr. Cruz faced some backlash among conservatives over the event, but it was nothing compared to the criticism both Mr. Reisner and Mr. Weiderpass faced from the gay community.

“I was ignorant, naïve and much too quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights,” Mr. Reisner said. 

“I’ve spent the past 24 hours reviewing videos of Cruz’s statements on gay marriage and I am shocked and angry. I sincerely apologize for hurting the gay community and so many of our friends, family, allies, customers and employees. I will try my best to make up for my poor judgment. Again, I am deeply sorry.” 

Mr. Reisner’s apology came before a scheduled protest march tomorrow evening in front of Out NYC.

In addition to the boycott calls, Broadway Cares, a charity that focuses on curing AIDS, canceled an annual event at a nightclub the two men own.