notice
No Milk money By Nina Libby nlibby@kansan.com for Cinemark
Boycotters want people to see the movie Milk, but not at Cinemark movie theaters
Organizers of the "No Milk for Cinemark!" Facebook group and website are boycotting CinemaK Theaters, a Texas chain that is showing Milk on its screens but whose CEO, Alan Stock, donated $9,999 to the "Yes on B" campaign.
A YouTube employee, San Franciscan Justin Green, co-created the Facebook group and website for the boycott. Green and fellow Facebook member; Matt Rooney, were aiming for 1,000 people to commit to avoiding Cinemark's Milk showings. The group currently has more than 29,000 members.
DON'T LET HARVEY MILK'S LEGACY FINANCE YOUR OPPRESSION!
"The group is specific to the promotion of Gus Van Sant's film and raising visibility around Alan Stock's donation to 'Yes on 8,'" Rooney says.
MILK
Proposition 8 was a California ballot proposition that changed the state's constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman and eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.
The CEO of Cinemark, Alan Stock, donated $9999 to the Yes on 8 Campaign. If 1,000 of us commit to see "Milk" at a competitor's theater instead of Cinemark, at an average cost of $10 per ticket, that's $10,000 of lost revenue.
For a list of alternative theaters showing "Milk" type "movies": [your zip code] into Google, or try fandango.com, movies.com, or movieforme.com.
According to the official "No Milk for Cinemark!" website, www.nomilkforcinemark.com, if 50,000 people commit to see Milk at a competitor instead of Century, CineArts or Tinseltown theaters, at an average cost of $10 per ticket, that's half a million dollars in lost revenue for Cinemark. The site currently reports $291,340 in lost revenue.
"I researched Stock's donation before I joined the group and sure enough he donated just under $10,000 to 'Yes on Prop. B.'" Dieker says."My partner and I are making an effort to see the movie elsewhere."
NO MILK FOR CINEMARK THEATERS! Century Theaters·CinèArts·Tinseltown
According to an analysis based on campaign finance reports submitted to the California Secretary of State's Office since 2007, Alan Stock donated $9,999 to "Yes on 8;" on October 28, 2008.
Visit www.nomilikorcinemark.com to find alternatives to Cinema剧场的, and join our Facebook group.
Josh Dieker, owner of Mix Media in Osage City, is a member of the Facebook group and is committed to boycotting the showing of Milk at Cinemark theaters.
Help us reach 1000 members so we can send a message to Mr. Stock:
YOU WILL NOT PROFIT FROM HATE
WWW.NOMILKFORCINEMARK.COM
Drew Galleni, co-founder of San Francisco Movie Bears, a gay men's social group who gather together to watch movies at local theaters, announced the group's boycott against
Contributed photo
James Meredith, Cinemark's vice president of marketing, issued a statement denying any companywide stance on Prop. 8: "Any individual act or contribution is just that, individual acts of personal expression, and do not reflect company positions or policy."
A donation to the "Yes on 8" campaign by Alan Stock, CEO of Cinemark Theaters, led to an effort to get 50,000 people to commit to see Milk, a film about California's first openly gay elected official, at a competitor's theater.
Cinemark theaters in an e-mail to members after he learned about Stock's donation. The boycott marks one of the few times members of the bear community have been actively involved in a political issue, Galleni says.
"Hundreds of people in our social group see movies at Cinemark," Galleni says. "We have bought thousands of dollars in movie tickets from Cinemark so after hearing about Stock's donation, we decided to boycott Cinemark by not going there anymore."
Scott Winer, 2008 graduate,says he would
choose to see the movie somewhere else if Cinemark was in Lawrence.The closest Cinemark theaters to Lawrence are in Merriam and Kansas City, Missouri.
"For me, I don't know how you could support Cinemark whose CEO encourages antigay rights," Winer says. "I think this boycott is great, especially with the past election. Everyone is looking through rose colored glasses because Obama won but we can't forget that on that same day, people's rights were actually being taken away because Proposition 8
Who is Harvey Milk?
In 1977, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the United States. Milk served almost eleven months as city supervisor of San Francisco and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance in the area, which barred anti-gay discrimination.
On November 27,1978,Daniel White, an anti-gay conservative and fellow supervisor, shot and killed Milk and San Francisco Mayor, George Moscone. A little more than two weeks earlier, White, who had recently resigned because he claimed the annual salary wasn't enough to support his family, demanded his job back. White became angry when Moscone denied his requests to return. Milk was 48-years-old and Moscone was 49 when White returned to city hall 17 days later to assassinate the two.
A jury found White guilty of voluntary manslaughter and he was sentenced to serve seven and two-thirds years (his sentence was eventually reduced to five years for time served and good behavior). White's defense attorney brought in a psychologist to testify that junk food had intensified White's depression. The so-called Twinkle defense was later banned.
— The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts
passed."
Alex Earles, Salina sophomore, says he was against Prop.8 and will encourage his family and friends to see the movie, Milk, but not at Cinemark theaters.
"I wanted to change my Facebook status when I heard about Stock's donation," Earles says. "I've encouraged my friends and family to see the movie but now I'll have to persuade them to see it somewhere else." JP
4
January 15,2009