Gold's Gym Has Lost Some Of Its Luster

By now most of you have probably heard that Robert Rowling--Owner, CEO and President of TRT Holdings which runs Gold's Gym--has made a sizable donation to American Crossroads, the pro-Republication organization founded by Karl Rove.
Yes, that Karl Rove.
And, according to Politico, American Crossroads [sidenote: does anyone else find these homespun names for groups that espouse hate to be more than mildly annoying?] intends to spend "$65 million to oust the Democratic majorities in Congress."
Well, of that 65 million, 2 million came directly from Robert Rowling's corporate and personal accounts.
Rowling's money is being used to elect Nevada GOP senate candidate Sharron Angle, who is challenging Harry Reid. Angle, as you might remember, believes that women who are raped should turn their "lemons into lemonade," and wants LGBT people barred from adopting children. Angle called gay people "sodomites" and "perverts" and endorsed a statement that said there was no evidence to suggest homosexuality was biological, and that scientists who argue otherwise are flawed.
And yet, Angle isn't the only candidate that American Crossroads, and by association, Robert Rowling, is supporting. There's Roy Blunt in Missouri, who is currently running for US Senate, and has a 0%--yes, zero--rating from the Human Rights Campaign when it comes to legislation focused on the LGBT community.
Blunt is against the Employment Nondiscrimination Act [ENDA], in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and in favor of banning gay adoptions in Washington, D.C. And he is focusing heavily, this campaign season, on the preservation of the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA], implying that if he loses his race, DOMA will die and gay people will be allowed to get married all over the country.
Egads! The horror.
Still, Robert Rowling supports this group and these candidates. And that's his right.
But........as is our right, and the right of Gold's Gym in San Francisco, is the ability to disagree.
So, to that end, Gold's Gym San Francisco announced this week that it is leaving its umbrella company, TRT Holdings, over Rowling's support for, and donations to, Karl Rove's American Crossroads.
This is what they had to say, in part:

Our company has worked for over twenty years to support our LGBT staff, members and community in every way possible and we will continue to.
We were as surprised by Mr. Rowling's action as anyone but because our company believes in and lives up to the ideals of equality for all we are going to take the following actions:
1: Our contractual obligation with Gold's Gym expires on September 15th, 2012 and on or prior to that date (our legal counsel is reviewing our options) we will leave the Gold's Gym brand. It is a major initiative to create a new brand and leave Gold's Gym which has been our identity for over 20 years but we will begin that process today.
2: For every dollar we pay Gold's Gym in franchise fees we will donate an equal or greater amount to LGBT charities. While we donate much more than this to charities and community groups that support the LGBT community we want to make a commitment to match or exceed this amount until our relationship with Gold's Gym can be severed.
3: Our management and staff will continue to support LGBT causes in every way possible and we will use our business as a platform to fight for change and equality for everyone. We have always taken great pride in being a leader in the LGBT community and we will continue to.

Thank you,

Don Dickerson, Director of Operations, Gold's Gym Bay Area

Nicely done. See, we can support whomever we choose. It's all good.

[from Towleroad]