Back in November, there was a considerable GLBT protest pf the Evanston Century 12 in Illinois. The reason was because Alan Stock, CEO of Cinemark, the corporation that owns Century Theater, gave a personal contribution of $9,999 to support Proposition 8. This was especially ironic, since this theatre had no qualms about running films like Brokeback Mountain and Milk. The protest was, naturally, the result of the Illinois gay community's shock and disgust at the passage of Prop 8 and holding those responsible for supporting this hideous endeavor financially.
The picket was a huge success and certainly one of the largest the sleepy city of Evanston had seen in a while. The Windy City Times describes the event so:
The crowd was a diverse one in terms of age and gender, and marched resolutely despite the cold. Several passing cars honked in support, and the number of picketers swelled to approximately 350 as the evening went on. Chants included the straightforward 'Boycott Century,' to 'Gay, Straight, Black, White/Marriage is a Civil Right.' People carried colorful home-made signs that ranged from the humorous ( 'Too Cute to Hate' ) to the serious ( 'No More Playing Our Movies, Taking Our Money, Then Using it Against US!' )
A friend of mine recently alerted me that having posted his displeasure with the Cinemark's CEO stand on Prop 8, he thought it noteworthy to post this situation on Yelp, lest other progressives and friends of the GLBT community find themselves inadvertently supporting a venue whose management took an active role in one of the most caustic and mean spirited attacks on Civil Rights in recent memory! Consequently, his review was removed and the following reasons given by Yelp:
Hi there, I'm writing to let you know that we decided to remove your review of Evanston Century 12 & Cinearts 6 after it was flagged by the Yelp community. It is undoubtedly a controversial issue for a business or one of its employees to take a stand on Proposition 8. While we encourage you to exercise your free speech rights with respect to this issue, consumer reviews are not the place to do it.
The e-mail went on...
As our review guidelines state: "Reviews aren't the place for rants about a business's employment practices, political ideologies, or other matters that don't address the core of the normal customer experience." We trust you recognize that our decision impacts both sides of this debate equally, and that our policy has been in place long before this issue emerged.
Regards,CeciliaYelp User Support
Since when is pointing out that the CEO of an entity like was a supporter of Prop 8 a rant? I do not have the original post, but I know my friend is a very polite, measured person who never raises his voice, swears or confronts anyone. A lot of people have ran from their support of Prop 8, even trying to enact a law to protect the identities of those who contribute to such campaigns, but doesn't the consumer have a right to know exactly whom he or she is patronizing? True, Yelp can make their own rules, but aren't they contradicting their own purpose?