Boycott of Kanab is sought

If you're planning a trip to Kanab anytime soon, don't expect any travel tips from vacation guru Arthur Frommer.

In fact, the author of "Frommer's Travel Guides" only has one hint for would-be vacationers: Don't go.

Frommer, a nationally syndicated columnist, is calling for a boycott of the southern Utah city after city leaders passed a "natural family" resolution expressing support for "upholding the marriage of a woman to a man, and a man to a woman as ordained by God."

The resolution, approved in Kanab in January and drafted by the conservative Sutherland Institute, goes on to encourage homes to be open to a "full quiver of children" and young women to become "wives, homemakers and mothers."

That language elicited a caustic column from Frommer this month calling the resolution "homophobic" and suggesting vacationers avoid the tourist town.

"If they discriminate against other Americans, then some Americans should not visit them," Frommer said Thursday from his New York home. "They really ought to wake up and join the modern world. It is nothing else but bigotry to adopt resolutions like that."

Kanab city leaders say they're undaunted by Frommer's remarks but sent a letter this week to King Features Syndicate saying Frommer "insulted free speech by writing a scathing and wrongful attack on the good people of Kanab."

"It (the resolution) addressed the value of merits of family structure; it is not a denigration of any family structure," the letter says.

Kanab Mayor Kim Lawson said he's not worried about Frommer's rallying cry to boycott the city, which relies heavily on tourism dollars from nearby state parks. High gas prices are more likely to deter vacationers than Frommer's boycott, he said.

"Mr. Frommer obviously doesn't know much about Kanab," Lawson said.

The fray over the resolution has reignited efforts from the Sutherland Institute to better clarify its message, which was adopted only by Kanab. President Paul Mero said he plans to step up efforts to get other cities to sign the resolution and understand how the "natural family can fit into a city's vision."

Mero added he is unfazed by Frommer's boycott threat.

"His primary audience does not visit Kanab. They go to Europe," he said. "They go to places that have given up on the family long ago. That's where they're comfortable."

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com