At least 200-300 people assembled in front of the Manchester Grand Hyatt this afternoon to protest the AHA convention’s violation of the boycott against the Hyatt, called after Douglas Manchester, the owner of the hotel, contributed $125,000 to the Proposition 8 campaign. In addition, the hotel is under sanction by union groups because of alleged unfair labor practices.

Cleve Jones, the noted GLBT activist, led the demonstrators in two marches around the Hyatt. Many of the demonstrators, judging by their ID tags, were attending the AHA convention, but the vast majority consisted of local activists from San Diego and Los Angeles. Most AHA members expressed their support for the goals of the protesters, but were either unaware of the boycott or unwilling to avoid the Hyatt entirely.

Several AHA conventioneers who were milling about by the protest expressed frustration with the AHA over the lack of communication to its membership about alternative accommodations, although most were supportive of the decision to compromise with the threaded mini-conference on marriage issues.

Several police officers were present at the protest, but no arrests were made. The protesters largely dispersed by 3:30 PM, but not before drawing extensive media coverage, including TV crews from Fox 5 and San Diego 6, who interviewed several protesters.

This video was taken at the protest, and consists of Cleve Jones’s opening speech to the crowd, reactions from AHA members and protesters, and footage of the protesters marching:

Craig Michael Loftin - 1/10/2010

Let it be noted that Doug Manchester is such an enthusiastic supporter of 'traditional marriage' that he recently filed from divorce from his wife. Read all about it: http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/ironic_divorce/8366/

To Cleve Jones: Thank you thank you thank you.