Boycott the Gatsby Summer Afternoon 2025

Because vintage without accountability is just whitewashed nostalgia.

Why We’re Boycotting

The Art Deco Society of California (ADSC) has shown us exactly where its priorities lie: in protecting image, preserving power and avoiding responsibility.

At the 2025 Preservation Ball, guests attended in racist, Orientalist costume. Leadership was notified and the guests were allowed to stay. No one in authority intervened. An apology was issued but it was vague, passive and protected everyone except the people who were harmed.

Since then:

• No names were named.
• No leadership was held publicly accountable.
• Board members have gone silent.
• Financial transparency is still nonexistent.
• The Treasurer, Karol Hosking, has provided no explanation.
• Laurie Gordon, who chaired the Preservation Ball, still holds leadership and oversees the Decobelles.
• President Sam Etler has issued no personal statement.

Meanwhile, the ADSC continues to plan its most visible event of the year—the Gatsby Summer Afternoon as if nothing happened.

We’re not staying silent.
We’re not dressing up.
And we’re not showing up until this is addressed.

What Accountability Looks Like

This is what we expect before any community centered engagement or support of ADSC events resumes:

1. A Real, Public Apology

• Acknowledging that racism occurred at the 2025 Preservation Ball
• Naming who was in charge when the call was made
• Apologizing to the AAPI community and to every attendee who witnessed harm go unaddressed

2. Leadership Accountability

• Laurie Gordon’s removal from any official or representational ADSC role, including involvement with the Decobelles
• A personal statement from President Sam Etler
• A full apology signed by every board member, not hidden behind a faceless “we”

3. Financial Transparency

• Public release of 2020–2023 financial records
• An explanation of why only $375 was spent on preservation in 2024 despite six-figure income
• A clear breakdown of how ADSC allocates funding, and how that supports its mission: “To increase public awareness of the Art Deco era through the preservation and promotion of its art, architecture, music, design, and other forms of popular culture.”

4. Commitment to Change

• A detailed plan for how the ADSC will center historically excluded voices
• A review board with BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and underrepresented community members with power to influence leadership and policy
• An end to the cultural gatekeeping, euro-centric beauty standards and organizational opacity that have plagued ADSC for years

What You Can Do

• Don’t attend Gatsby 2025.
• Share this page on all of your social media.
• Don’t promote the Gatsby Summer Afternoon 2025.
• Speak out and hare your personal story.
• Email the board and ask for them to be accountable.
• Redirect your dollars to cultural institutions that actually walk the walk.

This Isn’t Just About One Event

This is about power, silence, whiteness and what gets protected in the name of “preservation.”

If the ADSC wants to rebuild trust, they need to stop playing dress-up and start doing the work. Until then, the community is stepping back.

And we’re not going anywhere.