The second educational institution in New York City this spring is Conservative Jewish CongressFor a long time of planning, for Gov, one of its featured speakers. Ron DeSantis in Florida.
May, Jewish Heritage Museum Cancel the provisional rental contract Host an event. Chelsea Piers, a recreational complex that now has a large event space in Manhattan and has agreed to host a conference this weekend, has been widely criticized by elected officials and activist groups. DeSantis shouldn’t talk about sites that have played an important role in the history of LGBTQ in New York.
Earlier this year, Mr. DeSantis has signed a law prohibiting classroom discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation in some age groups in Florida schools.Don’t say gay“Specification.
The event, the Jewish Leadership Council, said he was invited by the Tikvah Fund, a conservative Jewish organization. DeSantis will give a speech on the liveliness of Jewish life in Florida.
But when the Jewish Heritage Museum knew him. DeSantis’ participation, his leadership withdrew from the event and told Tikbar that the law was not in line with the values of inclusiveness.
Later, Tikvah arranged to hold a conference in Chelsea Piers and publicly accused the museum of engaging in post-culture. Wall Street Journal Opinion Piece.. Before the essay was published on May 5, sports complex officials were unaware of the dispute with the museum, a spokesman said.
Today, recreational facilities facing protests and boycott threats are at the heart of a fierce debate that touches on issues of identity, inclusiveness, religion, and freedom of speech. And the Chelsea Piers symbolize a national conversation about whether to give a platform to people who are nervous in many respects, and very political, who have the view that some consider disgusting or dangerous. I’m in a difficult problem.
“The bottom line is that Chelsea Piers provides a place to spread hatred to the LGBTQ community, which is unacceptable at many levels, including in Chelsea, which is pride and the center of the community. “State Senator Brad Wheelman said. .. , A Democrat of Manhattan representing the region. He helped the Chelsea Piers call for the event to be cancelled. Special speech According to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer.
On Friday, Chelsea Piers responded to the turmoil by not canceling the event and cracking down on the views expressed by those renting the event space. Instead, he said he would donate the money received from the event to “a group that protects the LGBTQ + community and promotes and amplifies productive discussions on LGBTQ + issues.”
“We couldn’t strongly oppose much of what we did in Ron DeSantis’ office,” he said in an unsigned email to the staff. “One response to abominable behavior is to counter it with positive behavior.”
Mr. spokesman. DeSantis refused to tackle the dispute and instead described the governor as an advocate of religious freedom and a friend of Israel.
“He defended the right to gather and practice religious Floridas and their religions, despite attempts to block the place of worship from the left,” the campaign said. “The governor always supports what is right and is not blocked by the radical left.”
Eric Cohen, CEO of the Tikvah Fund, refused to comment on Friday’s latest controversy and chose to focus on the “event itself,” with the group “significant Jews, America, Israel, and the West.” A conference attended by about 20 speakers on the wonderful questions they are facing. “
In an interview last month, Mr. after the meeting was left without a venue. Cohen rejected the idea that Tikva was hosting a partisan program.
“Our event doesn’t support candidates and doesn’t serve political parties,” he says. Cohen said. “It’s all about ideas.”
Chelsea Piers’ decision to donate money to LGBTQ groups has not eased critics organizing protests in front of Pier 60 on Sunday in time for the meeting.
The New York City Gay Hockey Association, which has been based in Chelsea Piers for over 20 years, wrote to the owner of the complex, saying that its members felt “disappointed, sad, and even repulsive.” Requested cancellation of the event.
“The Jewish Heritage Museum has refused to host this event,” the group’s board of directors wrote. “I wish Pier 60 was working on this with the same scrutiny and respect, not just for the communities that serve it, but for the larger Chelsea Piers community.”
Other groups have canceled upcoming events at Chelsea Piers. Rich Ferraro, a spokesman for LGBTQ advocate GLAAD, said, “Given the platform that Chelsea Piers is offering to one of the most anti-LGBTQ and dangerous politicians today, his organization is a complex. Refrain from future events. “
The Ariphone Center, a group working with young people from New York’s homeless LGBTQ, said on Friday that it would no longer hold the program next month.
“People say the issue is about freedom of speech, but it’s not. This corresponds to DeSantis’ silence of freedom of speech at school,” said the group’s president. One Alex Roque said in a statement.
Mr Roque said the event was a “triple insult” as it happened during Pride Month. In the gay neighborhood of recreational facilities used by many gay people and their families. And in a complex built in a place of unique importance in New York’s gay history.
The Chelsea Wharf was built in the mid-1990s, while the site’s original wharf was built in the early 1900s to dock ocean liners and other large vessels.
By the 1960s, the pier was devastated, but soon reborn as an unruly shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth and a famous waterfront hangout for gay men and others.
The region became synonymous with secret gay freedom in the years that followed. Stonewall riotsOccurred at the nearby Stonewall Inn in 1969 and is widely seen as the birth of the modern gay rights movement.
The area also attracted artists and photographers who painted the pier scenes of works screened at recent popular exhibitions. Bronx Museum When Leslie Roman Museum in Manhattan.
“This couldn’t have happened in a worse place,” he said. Location said. “And I’m sending a really conflicting message about what Chelsea Piers cares about. Their Instagram is now full of posts about pride months, but doing this is exactly the opposite.”
