On May 8, Kelly Commerford, the marketing director for the Manchester Grand Hyatt announced at the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Convention in Toronto that Doug Manchester, the owner of the hotel, will give $125,000 to the gay community.

“Mr. Manchester is giving us [the GLBT community] a $25,000 personal donation and a $100,000 in kind,” Howard Bragman, Manchester’s public relations professional said. “These [funds] will go to gay groups to be determined,” he added, reiterating his support for gay and lesbian civil rights and civil partnership.

Many believe Manchester’s donations are in response to the backlash from the boycott waged against the Manchester Grand Hyatt for Manchester’s $125,000 donation to the “Yes on 8” campaign last summer.

A coalition of labor leaders and supporters of same-sex marriage announced last July, a full-scale boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt and other Manchester-owned properties. The coalition – which includes labor union UNITE Here Local 30, nonprofit organization Californians Against Hate, and is supported by City Councilmember Todd Gloria, San Diego Pride at Work, San Diego LGBT Pride and a number of community leaders – aims to inform Californians about Manchester’s contributions.

“I don’t think it’s because he suddenly cares about the rights of the LGBT community,” UNITE HERE president Bridgette Browning said. “I think he’s losing a lot of money. I think the travel industry universally recognizes that the LGBT community is a very profitable community for them to have staying in their hotels and patronizing their establishments.”

Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, was in Toronto during the announcement and says his organization along with labor unions will continue to boycott Manchester’s properties. The San Diego Hotelier owns three hotels, The Manchester Grand Hyatt, the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, and The Grand Del Mar.

“[We will boycott] at an increased pace because of this [offer],” he said. “The organizers of the boycott are not intending to end the boycott because of his offer.”

Karger added gay organizations are under pressure to accept Manchester’s offer because of the economic downturn.

“I think it’s a sad situation because groups are in such need of money,” he said. “That creates a huge problem and puts all of these gay organizations in a very awkward position. I’m sure they would like to take the credits at the hotel. Who do you think would show up?”

Browning also confirmed UNITE HERE’s boycotts will continue.

The boycotts were also in response to poor working conditions. According to Browning and Karger, no attempt has been made at mending the relationship between Manchester and labor. Bragman was not able to comment on Manchester’s issues with labor, because he works with GLBT issues.

“Neither UNITE HERE nor any of the other organizations have heard from Mr. Bragman and Mr. Manchester,” Karger said, noting that he was approached by Manchester last July for a settlement. “My first question was ‘does this include the labor portion?’ They said no. We have nothing to discuss if we’re not going to discuss both.”

Bragman said he was not working with Manchester at the time of the alleged offer and was not able to confirm any information. Karger said if the GLBT community was offered a similar settlement as last year’s alleged settlement, “that would be different.”

“He’s trying to force people to come to the hotel, but he’s going to fail. It’s a dumb idea,” Karger said.

Bragman has come under scrutiny because he is a gay man and is working for Manchester.

“As far as personal criticism, I think people should look into my three decades of work in the GLBT community – what I have achieved, who I have represented and the awards I have been honored to receive,” Bragman said. “If people want to discount me or my work because of [my work with Manchester], so be it. I know who I am, what I’ve done and am very comfortable in my own skin.”

Bragman believes the GLBT community lost the battle over Proposition 8 because of a lack of communication.

“I believe the reason we lost Prop. 8 is because we didn’t build bridges to certain communities,” he said. “If we’re going to win in the future, we need to build bridges. When people offer an olive branch, we should be willing to accept it. I am trying to [help my client] begin a dialogue, build a bridge and find common ground.”

Bragman asserts Manchester is not homophobic.

“We hope the community will understand that this is not a homophobic man. This is a man who came to his beliefs because of his religious upbringing. I hope the community understands this is a man of great dignity. It’s not easy to say I made a mistake,” Bragman said.

Manchester is Roman-Catholic. It was also announced at the convention that Manchester supports civil unions and domestic partnerships but not same-sex marriages.

“Before Prop. 8, there was a great relationship [between the Manchester Grand Hyatt and] the [GLBT] community. We want to get that back,” Bragman said.