Should Artists, Arts managers (Any One) Be Fired If They Support An Unpopular Cause?

The artistic director of the California Musical Theater, a major nonprofit producing company here in the state’s capital, resigned on Wednesday in the face of growing outrage over his support for a ballot measure this month that outlawed same-sex marriage in California. Read the whole story in The New York Times.

It would one thing if the theater produced anti-gay work. It would be another thing if the theater discriminated in hiring or selling tickets. But is it anyone's business who the artists or other cultural workers of the theater support or who they give money to? Does this mean that cultural organizations in liberal areas must be extra careful in hiring their artists and administrators? Or, in another context, does this mean that cultural organizations in liberal areas should shy away from hiring folks whose progressive views and political life might anger people in that community?