Joe Loduca Cant Go Home Again

There comes a point in every person's life when their values are tested, when they are asked to stand up upwards and act on their principles and convictions instead of but talking nigh them. In the last few weeks, I accept arrived at that point. And although information technology has taken me some fourth dimension to reflect and figure out exactly what I should exercise almost it, I at present feel that I have the answer to that question.Anybody who knows me will tell y'all that the Beverly Hills Hotel is my favorite place on the planet. Even those who don't know me tin can see that from my posts on social media. While it's true that the hotel is beautiful and glamorous, that's non what information technology's about for me. Information technology's about my family history there; the hotel holds a very special place in my middle.

My grandparents, the tardily actor James Mason and his married woman Pamela, came to the U.S. in 1947 seeking a new beginning. They came to Hollywood from state of war-torn England seeking a fresh start, to have kids and pursue the American dream. Pamela said when deciding where to live in Fifty.A. that she couldn't exist more than v minutes away from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Being close to it gave her a sense of comfort and safety, the security of knowing that any happened, the hotel was right around the corner.

Over the last 70 years, my family's connexion to the hotel has only grown stronger. My grandpa died in 1984, my grandmother died in 1996, and my aunt died, at the way-as well-young age of 55, in 2004. Throughout all of those traumatic experiences, the hotel has e'er been there for u.s.. Whenever I become in, the staff members are always there to give me a hug, to requite me a sense of belonging.

In truth, the hotel is the only place where I tin can go and feel truly happy, where I tin can feel close to my roots and to the grandfather I never met, the grandmother I was likewise young to know and the aunt that was gone as well soon that I wish could hug and agree in my arms just volition never have the chance to do and then. It actually is the but place on earth I truly consider home, which has made the concluding few weeks a very difficult period.

For you lot come across, the possessor of the Beverly Hills Hotel for the last 20 years has been the Sultan of Brunei, who has recently begun implementing sharia law in his nation. The police force includes, amongst other outrageous provisions, the stoning and murder of gay people. It's incredible that I'm even writing these words in this twenty-four hour period in age, merely alas that is the reality nosotros are facing. And so in response, there has been a massive outcry and effort to boycott the hotel, one that as of today has already recruited celebrities such as Jay Leno, Richard Branson, Valentino Garavani, Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Osbourne.

I admittedly was a little late to the game in terms of joining the cold-shoulder. Not that I went to the hotel at all since the news was announced; I haven't been back from the moment that I heard about this disgusting law. But I guess I was hoping that there might be some kind of resolution before the kickoff part of the new penal lawmaking was signed into effect at the end of April. After all, the last thing I want to do is hurt the hotel and the people who work there that I care so much nigh.

We have come to the moment, however, where it is clear action has to be taken, and I am committing myself 100 percent to the crusade of doing any is necessary to boycott the Beverly Hills Hotel, as well every bit all Dorchester hotels, and get this draconian and evil police force thrown in the dustbin of history every bit soon as possible. As Martin Luther Rex in one case said, "Our lives begin to end the mean solar day we become silent near things that matter." We cannot stay silent.

I mentioned all the celebrities above who accept come up out in favor of the boycott, and I guarantee you that there are many more to come. It'south just the beginning; I intend to be a part of helping this move grow and expand, and I hope that anybody, celebrity or not, uses their voice likewise every bit their pocketbooks to prove the Beverly Hills Hotel every bit well as the other Dorchester hotels around the world exactly how much nosotros intendance about this outcome.

Christopher Cowdray, the CEO of the Dorchester Collection, came out recently and said that the company will not be issuing an apology in response to the new law. I hope he looks in the mirror every morn and thinks about what that means, that he is substantially condoning the torture and decease of every gay homo being, including many of his own employees. I know that may sound harsh, just now is not the fourth dimension to mince words when lives are hanging in the balance.

Mason has launched a petition urging President Obama to take action against the Sultan of Brunei. Read and sign information technology here.

James Knuckles Mason, 22, is an actor and political activist. He is the son of Go-Go'due south lead singer Belinda Carlisle and producer Morgan Bricklayer, and the grandson of the tardily British actor James Mason.

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Source: https://www.queerty.com/why-i-cant-go-home-again-young-activist-boycotts-savage-treatment-of-lgbt-people-20140506

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