HELL'S KITCHEN — The gay hotelier whose OUT Hotel has faced a boycott since he and his business partner met with Sen. Ted Cruz fired back at "gay extremists" in an op-ed published Sunday.
Mati Weiderpass, who had previously apologized on Facebook for hosting the conservative presidential candidate, wrote in the New York Observer that the boycott was "small and intolerant."
"What would we say if the Jewish community organized a boycott of a business leader who hosted a private discussion with an important Muslim politician?" the op-ed asked.
Protesters took to a Facebook group with 11,000 likes and demonstrated outside the hotel last month after Weiderpass and the hotel's co-owner Ian Reisner hosted the presidential hopeful in their Central Park South apartment.
The event, coordinated by Israel policy consultant Kalman Sporn, was not a fundraiser or endorsement, Weiderpass wrote.
"While Senator Cruz’ positions on LGBT issues are considered extreme in New York, the reality is that the LGBT Community has achieved enormous progress politically in just the last five years," Weiderpass wrote.
Weiderpass is a registered Democrat, according to the article. Reisner is a registered Republican, according to his spokeswoman.
Cruz did not respond to a request for comment.
