1775 K STREET, NW, SUITE 620, WASHINGTON, DC 20006 TEL (202) 393-4373 FAX (202) 223-6213 WWW.UNITEHERE.

ORG

July 6, 2012 General James F. Amos Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps 3000 Marine Corps Pentagon, Room 4E734 Washington, D.C. 20350-3000

RE: U.S. Marine Corps aligned with the socially irresponsible Ultimate Fighting Championship Dear General Amos: We, military veterans who are members of UNITE HERE, are writing to request the opportunity to meet on July 12th to share our concerns about the sponsorship relationship between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the nations largest promoter of professional cage fighting events. We would also like the opportunity to submit a petition with more than 4,000 signatures calling on the Marine Corps to renounce its support of the UFC immediately and commit not to use taxpayer money to sponsor the UFC. You can read the petition at www.UnfitFortheCorps.org. UNITE HERE is a union that represents more than 250,000 workers in the hotel, food service and restaurant, textile, industrial laundry, and gaming industries in North America. We, the Veterans Committee of UNITE HERE, are deeply offended by statements made by people associated with the UFC. We believe these statements are deeply at odds with the culture, mission and values of the Marine Corps, and the values of the people you are trying to recruit. The UFC is an organization that has tolerated people associated with it making jokes about rape, homophobic slurs and sexually explicit remarks that are demeaning towards women. The following are some recent examples: In a video, UFC president Dana White told a female sports journalist, Whoever gave you that quote is a pussy and a fucking faggot. White also called the journalist a fucking moron and a fucking dumb bitch.i UFC fighter Forrest Griffin tweeted rape is the new missionary. When a woman objected, Griffin tweeted back, Keep it to yourself nobody cares.ii Griffin apologized for the rape tweet and made a donation to a rape crisis center.iii UFC fighter Rashad Evans taunted his opponent by saying, Im gonna put those hands on you worse than that dude did them other kids at Penn State. iv UFC fighter Michael Bisping is captured on video screaming, faggot motherfucker at his opponent. v UFC president Dana White then posted footage of Bisping making the homophobic slur on his video blog.vi

UFC fighter Quinton Rampage Jackson repeatedly urged fans in Japan to say, I am a faggot, I suck dick, and I have big tits, among other offensive comments. vii Even after LGBT organizations and members of the media last fall called attention to these slurs,viii the UFC still allowed Jackson to compete in a televised UFC event in Tokyo, Japan.ix UFC fighter Chael Sonnen appeared in an online video giving advice to young people on fighting. "If he slaps you, punch him. If he punches you, kick him. If he kicks you, stab him. If he stabs you, shoot him. If he shoots you, you go kill his family.x We believe that, by aligning with the UFC, an organization that has tolerated homophobia, misogyny and hate speech, the Marine Corps is violating its stated commitment of maintaining dignity and respect for one another.xi Homophobia and hatred, in any form, are not consistent with the values that make the Marines an elite fighting force. We, the Veterans Committee of UNITE HERE, are also offended by commercials that juxtapose images of Marine Corps soldiers training and fighting for our country with UFC fighters.xii You can find an example of such a commercial here: http://youtu.be/hWQHdDawQKw The Marine Corps should not trivialize service to our country, which entails tremendous sacrifice, by comparing military service with cage fighting for money. We ask you to contact us as soon as possible to let us know of your availability on July 12th. For more information, please call Chris Serres at (702)-386-5231 or send an e-mail to cserres@culinaryunion226.org

Sincerely,

Albert Bolduc, U.S. Army veteran Jim DuPont, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ryan Hand, U.S. Marine Corps (Honorably discharged) Vincent OBrien, U.S. Marine Corps (Honorably discharged) Jose Pichardo, U.S. Navy veteran Beatriz Topete, U.S. Army veteran Veterans Committee of UNITE HERE

Video: http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/ufc-president-dana-white-notoriousrant/FYZcYppmYJ5wwYruuKpvpw ii The Huffington Post, Forrest Griffin Rape Jokes: MMA Fighter Sparks Controversy on Twitter, Nov. 9, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/forrest-griffin-rape-jokes-twitter_n_1084471.html iii Hendricks, Maggie, Griffin apologizes for rape tweet, makes donation to rape crisis center, Nov. 11, 2011, Yahoo! Sports, http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/griffin-apologizes-for-rape-tweet-makesdonation-to-rape-crisis-center?urn=mma,wp9282 iv YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWUjTk6SR7E; Gross, Josh, Evans Sandusky comment hits low note, Dec. 7, 2011, ESPN.com, http://espn.go.com/blog/mma/post/_/id/6893/evans-hits-low-note-withsandusky-comment v Video: http://www.towleroad.com/2011/02/bisping.html vi YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbvKTpvsh3k vii Video: http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh2zhS44X4iE40BITU viii Broverman, Neil, Pressure on Anheuser-Busch to End Support for Homophobic UFC, Oct. 14, 2011, Advocate.com, http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/10/14/Pressure_on_AnheuserBusch_to_End_Support_for_Homo phobic_UFC/ ix http://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-144#/fight x Video: http://www.cagepotato.com/video-of-the-day-chael-sonnen-gives-some-kids-disturbing-advice-on-how-tocompete/ xi DADT: Commandant and SMMC's Message to Marines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPn3V3KuhaM&feature=player_embedded xii McCullough, Amy, Warrior ethos emphasized in UFC partnership, Feb. 7, 2010, Marine Corps Times, http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/02/marine_ufc_020710w/