US: GLAAD hails veteran comedian for cancelling Catholic gig, citing ‘rabid anti-gay’ agenda
A gig for a group of Catholic business leaders has been cancelled by a long time US comedian, in a decision hailed by LGBT rights group GLAAD.
Bob Newhart’s appearance at the Legatus Summit in Orlando on 6 February was cancelled, with the announcement made on Twitter.
Upcoming Bob Newhart Tour Date Change — Bob will not be performing at the Legatus Summit in Orlando FL on February 6th, 2014
— Bob Newhart (@BobNewhart) December 19, 2013
The cancellation was hailed by GLAAD, which has been running a campaign to stop personalities from appearing at the summit, calling it a “rabid anti-LGBT organization”.
GLAAD’s statement read: “It is possible that Newhart, like many people were unaware that Legatus was such a rabid anti-LGBT organization. The organization was created by former Domino’s Pizza CEO, Thomas Monaghan, for Roman Catholic businesspeople, and membership is only available to top level executives.”
The Legatus Summit’s website claims that it was established to “bring together the three key areas of a Catholic business leader’s life – Faith, Family and Business – connecting two powerful realities, the challenge of top-tier business leadership and a religious tradition second to none.”
Newhart was raised as a Catholic, but the decision to cancel the gig is being seen as LGBT rights groups as an acknowledgement of the summit’s history on LGBT issues.
