SoCal Woman Calls For Rose Parade Boycott Over Same-Sex Wedding Float
PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — A Southland woman has issued a call on social media to boycott the Tournament of Roses Parade over plans for two men to be married atop a parade float.
Karen Grube, of San Diego, told the Pasadena Star-News she wants the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to remove the cake-shaped "Love is the Best Protection" float in deference to opponents of gay marriage both in California and nationwide.
"Gay marriage is illegal in over 30 states, why would they promote something that is blatantly illegal?" Grube told the Star-News. "That's just stupid."
Grube - whose "Boycott the 2014 Rose Parade" Facebook page calls on supporters not to attend or watch the parade on TV - also called on corporate sponsors including Disneyland, Hallmark, Kaiser Permanente, and the LA Times to pull their support from the parade, which draws a global audience of about 68 million viewers annually, according to the Star-News.
The 2014 Rose Parade will be the first since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June in favor of opponents of Proposition 8 made gay marriage legal in California.
As part of the Tournament's "Dreams Come True" theme, the "Living The Dream" float (PDF) will feature Aubrey Loots, 42, and Danny Leclair, 45, a gay male couple from Los Angeles who have been dating for over a decade, according to AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
"Having my relationship recognized legally is already a dream come true," Leclair said in a statement. "To be able to declare my love to the world at large in hopes of inspiring others to live proudly and authentically is an enormous honor."
But Grube - who told the Star-News her boycott has less to do with religious convictions than it does with preservation of a longtime tradition - warned on Facebook she fears the parade could fall victim to "political correctness."
"If the same folks who have supported Phil Roberson's (sic) biblical stand on marriage against A&E decide they'll spend New Year's morning at sunrise services instead of watching the parade, and people avoid going to the parade, that could spell the end of this tradition," she wrote.
Rose Parade officials told the Star-News in a statement that despite the controversy, the float will participate in the Jan. 1 crawl down Colorado Boulevard.
"Like all of our sponsors and float designers, AHF continues to help make the Rose Parade a premier event through original and creative expressions that connect to parade themes - as this float does," the statement read.
