Mold has forced seven gay groups out of
a subsidized building in Southern California.
The 301 University Building in the
diverse Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego housed seven gay groups,
including Equality California, Marriage Equality USA, the Courage
Campaign, San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality and Restore
Equality 2010, before a rising mold problem aggravated by torrential
November rains pushed everyone out.
Californians
Against Hate had just moved into the building when they were
asked to vacate the premises.
“We found out that the rain damage
from the previous weekend's storm caused severe water damage and more
mold problems, so everyone was asked to vacate ASAP,” Californians
Against Hate founder Fred Karger told On Top Magazine in an
email. “We all complied.”
The building – being leased for a
dollar a month – was “a space to share ideas,” he added. “We
were thrilled to share office space with several more established
organizations like Equality California and so many of the young,
bright, enthusiastic new [gay rights] activists.”
Karger founded Californians Against
Hate last year to organize boycotts against large donors to
Proposition 8, California's voter-approved gay marriage ban.
“We wanted an office to be able to
work more on our two remaining boycotts: Manchester Hotels and A-1
Self Storage,” Karger said. “We have a demonstration set up for
January 9 at the Manchester Hyatt to protest the American Historical
Association conference there, and more plans in the works.”
The groups say it is unlikely they'll
find a similar property, but remain committed to the collaboration
the building once fostered.
“We're still going to work together,
and we will continue to build a community wide effort to win marriage
back,” Jacqueline Palmer, field manager for Equality California,
told the San Diego-based gay weekly Gay
& Lesbian Times.
Karger, who now works from a virtual
office, said he believed the building was slated to be torn down.