Planet fitness ceo funding anti gay politicians for years
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Four Bay Area Gold's Gym franchises have decided slash ties with the body-building chain after word of a donation by Gold's Texas-based parent company's CEO to a conservative outfit unfriendly to same-sex attracted rights.
Owners of the two San Francisco locations, plus one in Oakland and Marin decided they could not be part of a company whose CEO - Robert Rowling, owner of Gold's parent organization TRT Holdings - gave money to American Crossroads.
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
The organization, founded by former Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie and former George W. Bush senior advisor Kark Rove, is supporting anti-gay candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, according to Don Dickerson, director of operations for Gold's Gym Bay Area.
Gold's Gyms possess been fixtures in the Bay Area for 22 years, with the bulk of the clientele members of the LGBT community.
"Very rarely in a situation like this does a business stand up and actually take a position on the matter, which is why I deliberate people have been so happy that we've taken this course of action," said Dickerson.
Members at the South of Market Gold's Gym are proud. "They're standing behind t
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Updated at 5:25 p.m. ET
A set of Gold's Gym franchises in the San Francisco Bay Area are abandoning their mark after learning that their parent company's owner made a large, private donation to American Crossroads, the conservative political group that backs candidates opposed to expanding gay rights.
Billionaire Robert Rowling, CEO of TRT Holdings, which owns Gold's, has given more than $2 million this election cycle to American Crossroads, the third party organization with ties to former Bush strategist Karl Rove.
Reports of Rowling's significant donations to American Crossroads angered some franchise owners, who said the donations betrayed Gold's powerful ties to the lgbtq+ community.
"Gold's Gym San Francisco has long been a pillar of the gay community. We will continue to be," Don Dickerson, the director of operations for Gold's Gym Bay Area, wrote in a Facebook note. "It is very unfortunate that the CEO of TRT Holdings has chosen this course of action. We do not support it in any way."
Dickerson wrote that the Bay Area Gold's Gyms will consent their contractual obligations with Gold's Gym International to expire in 2012, if they are not competent to end them sooner. On t
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