After several decades working as a behind-the-scenes strategist, Fred Karger finally took the stage on July 18. That day, about 200 people gathered in front of the Manchester Grand Hyatt to protest hotel owner Doug Manchester's support of Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban. Karger urged the crowd not to “park, eat, shop, stay at, or get married” at the hotel.
Though the hotel had distanced itself from Manchester's stance, Karger's work carried on. The gay rights movement faced a defeat when ...