Golfland Revealed as Heavy Proposition 8 Supporter
Long celebrated for their arcades and minigolf courses, Golfland Entertainment's "family fun centers" are familiar stops for many gamers in California, many of whom are likely unaware that the chain donated over $35,000+ to support California Proposition 8. The campaign for the proposition, which raised $39.9 million last year, helped changed the state Constitution to limit marriage's definition to opposite-sex couples, preventing same-sex couples from marrying.
Personal blog Guy Dads uncovered that the family-owned business's vice president, managers, and others chipped in a total of $10,459 to the ballot proposition, while president and chief executive Fred Kenney's wife, Cynthia Kenney, contributed $25,100 to the cause.
In an impassioned post at niche gaming site Insert Credit, which brought Golfland's donations to my attention, writer Joel admonished other gaming sites for not covering this controversy: "I wasn’t particularly surprised to learn this, but I am surprised it was only reported on activist blogs and not on any videogame related ones. There is a website called gaygamer.net. They run banner ads for gourmet food and Subaru cars (literally, this is not a generalization), but they didn’t report this. I guess I don’t understand the purpose of a gay videogame site then."
Comments
And rightly so. This is not news. This isn't even close to news. It has absolutely nothing to do with video games. It's about two families who run a business donating money to a political cause. Some internet wierdo gets butt-hurt (pardon my terminology here) and whines that no one else is butt-hurt about it? Your headline should be "Some Guy Complains That Other People Don't Complain" Why is this even on your site?
Posted by: DeeMer | April 22, 2009 12:57 PM
I dunno, I think the message, "If you care about gay marriage and like going to arcades, don't go to this one," is worth saying.
Even though they got that money to support Prop 8 from gamers, you could argue it's still a private matter. I don't think it's a very strong argument if you use the term butt-hurt, though.
Posted by: P.F. | April 22, 2009 2:41 PM
The owners of some random arcade in California giving 10 grand to the Prop 8 wingnuts is barely news because arcades are not news anymore, especially if their main line of business isn't even the arcade.
It's like saying the owner of a chain of pizza joints should be shamed on gaygamer.net for contributing to Prop 8 because they have a Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga cabinet in some of their locations, making it gaming news.
On the other hand, I stopped buying carrots from Bolthouse Farms because their owners contributed about 20 times as much as these guys towards Prop 8. Guess what? That's not gaming news either, and it's barely gay news. It's activism news. It's probably not even effective since now I buy carrots from Wal-Mart, the only local supermarket who offers carrots that don't come from Bolthouse Farms. They're not exactly known for their gay-positive politics either.
But I guess if I'm ever in Southern California or Arizona looking for a place to play skee-ball, I'll be passing up this chain, so, mission accomplished.
Posted by: raindog469 | April 23, 2009 1:48 PM
So what! I may not agree with them but it is their money and they can donate it to whomever they want to. None of my business or yours. Thought this was a games site, the only game being played that I can see is you trying to prove how "RIGHT ON" you think you are.
Posted by: Raider | April 26, 2009 10:47 AM
this is to the guys that says its not news. YEs it is and I am glad the posted it so that I along with gladd can do somthing about it! i cant understand why people are so raceist when it comes to gay people when we are fight the same war and spanish,and afroamericans had to deal with! i really wish people would understand that. gay people live like normal people We pay taxes ect. so why not give us a break? and for the recored whats wrogn with a gay game site We play xboxs,ps2 ect Just let the rest of the people!
Posted by: Mystic raven | April 26, 2009 11:54 AM
Mystic raven, I don't think anyone said they had a problem with a gay gaming site. And yes, it is news - there's no doubt about that. But what kind of news is it? It's politics. It's activism. It's not about video games. It's about the owners of a company donating their money toward a cause they believe in. I'm gay. I'm not a fan of Prop 8. But it's not imperative this article be posted on a site that solely provides video game news. Sure, Golfland's business is comprised of mini golf, water slides, and an arcade. The arcade is, in fact, an important facet to their business. However, if the political opinions of owners/employees of a company that supplies, designs, or manufactures video/arcade games were seemingly relevant to this site's audience, this site would be completely different.
Posted by: pievuhg | April 26, 2009 7:30 PM