Thursday, November 13, 2008

Let's have a discussion about this

An interesting article popped up in the New York Times today about Scott Eckern's, resignation from California Musical Theatre. He has resigned amidst a fury of outrage at his donation of 1,000 $ in support of Proposition 8. Most people know that Prop 8 is the California initiative, which passed, and will change the State's constitution to discriminate against same-sex marriages. Eckern's financial support of Prop 8 was made public by a group of activists in California, calling for a boycott of businesses and individuals who contributed to the initiative. Once his name was out he faced increasing criticism for his contribution and early this week the pressure forced him to resign.
Now, I am a California resident and I voted against Prop 8, I am pleased to say. And I am deeply saddened that larger California population wants to write discrimination into our State constitution. However, I am very torn about Mr. Eckern's "forced" resignation. Eckern, who is a practicing Mormon, has the right to contribute his own money to what ever political initiatives that he wants, in my opinion. I don't believe that his personal convictions should have any bearing on his work relationship with California Musical Theatre. Sure it seems odd that a guy who has worked in musical theatre for a decade and has a lesbian sister, by his own admission would contribute to such a heinous ballot initiative, but should he really have to quit his job because of it?
I would really like to hear some thoughts on this, so please feel free to leave comments, and definitely check out the article in the Times.

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