Manhunt Founder Resigns Over McCain Money

The Manhunt.net saga continues today, as co-founder Larry Basile (left in the picture) announced to Towelroad that Jonathan Crutchley (right), who donated $2300 to John McCain's presidential campaign, has officially resigned as Chairman of Manhunt. Basile sites that the board requested the resignation (read: they fired his ass over this), and combined with mounting (tee hee) customer complaints and account cancellations, things weren't looking good for the hook-up site.

Here's Basile's statement:

"There has been a depiction this week of MANHUNT being Republican. All my life, I have never voted to the right, and have always been generous to 20th Century Democrats, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, HRC, and the NGLTF.

"I was arrested at the Supreme Court and FDA in Act-Up actions, and was the founder of the Grass Roots Gay Rights Fund, which over the years has raised more than $800K. I was the Treasurer of Out Week magazine, which was a powerful force in its time. I began giving Obama donations in March 2007, and I have sent several checks that have yet to be reported. The hat and t-shirt I wear say 'Obama for President', as does the sign in front of my house. I refuse to live in a country that is so marred by war and hate. To me, Barak (sic) is by far the best candidate, probably better than we deserve.

"It should be known that Jonathan Crutchley's donation to McCain left the entire Board in disbelief. I am disappointed that we have lost some customers, and I understand the anger. It is too bad for the web site if we lose customers, but PLEASE never refer to me as a Republican. I consider it an offense.

"Earlier today, at the request of the Board, Jonathan has stepped down as Chairman. Sincerely, Larry Basile."

A couple things here. First, although I personally do not support McCain, I do support people's right to make poor decisions. As such, I'm not really sure that I'm OK with a man essentially being fired over his personal political beliefs, and I have to wonder about the legality of that as well. Yes, I know he technically resigned, but as Basile said, it was at the request of the Board, so he was pressured to do so. Second, and on a completely contradictory note, good job Manhunt! Yep, that's hippocritical. Sue me. Or get Tiny to "ask for my resignation."

As a Homotron reader and commenter Electrobear pointed out, we vote with our dollars these days, and it looks like brief boycotting and cancellation movement worked as intended. Overall, this still leaves me wondering why, as a proprietor of gay sex, you would feel that McCain is a logical, worthwhile candidate. Even in the darkest of conspiracy theories, Crutchley has to realize that a happy, free, equal and socially accepted gay population is better for business than a repressed and scared population.