One would think that to host such events the theater would be owned by progressive or at least liberal-leaning proprietors. Roger Tansey over at MyDesert uncovered the reality that in fact the owner, Mrs. Rozene Supple, has donated to a variety of right-wing and anti-gay causes. Some of her offenses include $2200 to Michele Bachmann, $7,900 to the Koch brothers' Citizens United, and arguably most egregiously (in message, if not amount) she gave $100 to ProtectMarriage.com to support California's Proposition 8.
Mrs. Supple wrote a rebuttal for MyDesert in an attempt to balance out her portrayal, explicitly stating that she loves her Palm Springs community, and though she's Republican she does not support the Tea Party or religious right (despite donating to Bachmann), she wants smaller government oversight and less regulation (despite donating to Citizens United), and she admires and respects the gays (despite donating to an anti-gay hate cause).
To her credit, Mrs. Supple says that she has donated to causes like Desert AIDS Project, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Equality California, The Judy Fund, Olive Crest, and the Children’s Discovery Museum, and she says that going forward,
I have decided that I will no longer contribute to any political entity that does not embrace equal rights for all Americans. Truth be told, I will probably stop contributing to any of them.
Mrs. Supple may have a struggle on her hands undoing the damage that she has already done to her own reputation and public good will, and time will tell if she actually follows through on her commitments. Still, better a late conversion than never.
