A gay real estate developer is apologizing for hosting presidential hopeful, and same-sex marriage opponent, Ted Cruz at an event in his home on April 22.
Ian Reisner, and his business partner Mati Weiderpass, had Cruz, his wife and a dozen friends to their Central Park penthouse for dinner and a “fireside chat”. During the evening, Cruz is said to have softened his anti-gay stance claiming that if one of his daughters were gay, he would “love them just as much.”
News of the event spread of social media with many calling for a boycott of Reisner and Weiderpass’s hotels and businesses.
“I am shaken to my bones by the e-mails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days. I made a terrible mistake,” said Resiner in a statement released via his Facebook on April 26. ” I was ignorant, naive and much too quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights.”
” I’ve spent the past 24 hours reviewing videos of Cruz’ statements on gay marriage and I am shocked and angry,” he continued. ” I sincerely apologize for hurting the gay community and so many of our friends, family, allies, customers and employees. I will try my best to make up for my poor judgment. Again, I am deeply sorry.”
Reisner also hosted a political fundraiser for Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin earlier this month. Like Cruz, Johnson has come out against same-sex marriage and has a zero percent rating on his congressional scorecard from the Human Rights Campaign. Cruz scored 20 percent on his.
Reisner is the founder of the “straight-friendly” Out NYC Hotel and is the managing partner and president of Parkview Developers, who recently purchased Fire Island Pines, a popular gay getaway.
