Actor Wilson Cruz Is Leading the Charge to Boycott Equinox Gyms Due to Owner’s Trump Support

Word rang out around the interwebs on Wednesday morning: Stephen Ross, the wealthy developer who owns the parent company of Equinox and SoulCycle, Related Companies, will be hosting a high-priced fundraiser for Donald Trump this week. The famed fitness chain — long a beloved brand among the gay community — has since been under fire, and one actor in particular — openly gay My So-Called Life and Star Trek: Discovery actor Wilson Cruz — is leading the charge for an Equinox boycott if the fundraiser is not canceled.

Cruz, a longtime activist in addition to being an actor, started a Change.org petition to rally support among the LGBTQ community and its allies, urging Stephen Ross and his brands to end support for Donald Trump.

Wilson Cruz is himself a member of the high-priced gym, but he believes Donald Trump’s anti-LGBT policies don’t jive with the gym brand’s clientele and spirit.

The Trump fundraiser at issue is scheduled to take place in the Hamptons. Members of the Trump administration will be present, including Jared Kushner and Donald Trump, Jr., and attendees seeking a photo will have to pay $100,000 for it. For $250,000 attendees can observe a roundtable discussion.

The Equinox gym chain had previously been considered a supporter of the LGBTQ community.

Within minutes, the Equinox boycott petition had more than 250 supporters.

Here’s the text of the Equinox boycott / Stephen Ross petition:

We joined this gym because we believed it shared our values. We believed it was a safe space for people like us. We believed that we were supporting a company that was inclusive, accepting and celebrating our diversity and supporting our physical and mental health as a community.

You have a MORAL obligation to be all of those things for your members. Supporting this administration and the myriad of ways in which it undermines and endangers members of our communities is UNACCEPTABLE and if this fundraiser indeed does take place we will be looking for another gym to give our money to and we will be calling on our networks of LGBTQ and POC friends to do the same.

There is NO WAY that we as a community can continue to support this business if you are actively supporting an administration that puts us in danger and works towards treating us like second class citizens, and worse yet, subhuman.

We don’t understand how this company, which owes its success to its LGBTQ membership especially in its largest markets in California, New York, Miami, Chicago and other big cities around the world thinks it’s appropriate to be tied to this fundraiser.

PUT AN END TO THIS FUNDRAISER NOW!

Other celebrities have also voiced their discontent with the gym chain and have expressed support for an Equinox boycott, including Billy Eichner. “Hey @Equinox – what’s your policy for canceling memberships once a member finds out your owner is enabling racism and mass murder?” the actor tweeted.

Assuming you’re a gym member who wants to take part in the Stephen Ross / Equinox boycott, how would you do that, considering a membership contract could mean you’d be giving up your hard-earned money?

Well, we like how this guy thinks:

Head here for more info on the Stephen Ross / Equinox boycott petition.

Featured image courtesy of Getty Images