Gay marriage controversy hits the annual meeting of the Americal Historical Association

American Historical Association Annual Meeting begins today amidst controversy

Some of the events are being held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, whose owner contributed heavily to the campaign in the state against same-sex marriage. The 1,625-room resort has been the subject of a boycott by gay-rights activists since July 2008.

There were calls for the historians to boycott the hotel and pull out of hosting the conference there, but the AHA replied that doing so would cost over $800 000, which would be too expensive. Arnita Jones, the association’s executive director, said, "We’ve been around a long time, but our members are college professors, history teachers and librarians, and we aren’t a wealthy organization."

Instead they are hosting a mini-conference on historicial perspectives on same-sex marriage, but they still expect protests to the conference.