Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Gay travel: South Carolina in an uproar over advertising campaign
South Carolina is outraged over an advertisement campaign by Amro Worldwide, a UK specialist in gay and lesbian travel, which labeled the Palmetto State "so gay" in a series of posters throughout the London Underground.Looking to boost its profile among the UK's gay and lesbian community, Amro devised its 'so gay' campaign nearly a year ago and reached out to various U.S. tourism boards last October to see if they would participate.
Shortly thereafter, Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. confirmed their participation. Last November, South Carolina jumped on board.
The campaign debuted at Underground stations in Leicester Square and Covent Garden during London's recent Gay Pride Week celebrations. For South Carolina, the posters touted the state's gay beaches and Civil War-era plantations.
Apparently, it seems that South Carolina tourism officials didn't really understand what they was agreeing to. At first, top officials said the campaign sent a positive message to gay travelers. But as outrage increased, they now say they knew nothing about the campaign and are disavowing participation, according to MSNBC.com, refusing to pay the campaign's promoter, Out Now, the $5,000 fee for the posters.
The low ranking official in the state's department of parks, recreation and tourism department who got the state involved with the campaign in the first place has resigned.
Oran Smith, the president of a South Carolina conservative activist group, tells MSNBC.com: "I think with today's economy, we have to be really smart with our tourism dollars, and South Carolina's market, very clearly, is the family-friendly market. So if we want to spend our dollars in a way that's wise, we need to go after our market, and our market is families."
Amro Worldwide wants to know what all the fuss is about. The view among many in the gay and lesbian community is that being 'so gay' is not the putdown it perhaps once was, but rather a positive thing, the company says.
Just don't expect Main Street South Carolinians to agree. One Charleston resident who spoke to MSNBC.com says, "We're so gay? Nah. Wrong state. Go to California."
It's worth noting that the other U.S. destinations involved in the campaign are not complaining.
Dispatches from around the world
Filed under: Activism, North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 12)
mgamb95546 Jul 15th 2008 9:13PM
Vonnie, I am from SC also and the fact that you are making a point of having black friends says maybe you hate blacks and gays. Celebrate your heritage but do not find fault with those who do not care for or may like the gay slogan or those who may find the flag offensive.
pat Jul 15th 2008 9:17PM
Let them be gay in France and California. Not in this country. They are not welcome here those fagets!
AJ Jul 15th 2008 9:26PM
You Pilots have your own thing going like cheating on your wives.. i bet you are just miserable now that your retired or left with nothing ? cuz your wife took it all ? check yourself before you talk about someone else dude ! your airline and people are probably glad to rid of your face.
Chrisotpher Jul 15th 2008 9:22PM
What self-respecting gay or lesbian would want to travel to South Carolina anyway??!!! Unless, of course, they like socializing with people who hate us and would rather screw sheep!! I wouldn't give that backwards state a dime of my "gay" money. (And you can best believe they would love to have our money.) That's the reason they agreed to the ads in the first place.
mgamb95546 Jul 15th 2008 9:20PM
Rachel, visit the Haywood mall (Greenville, SC) on the weekends. You will see drag, drag and more drag. I was actually quite shocked when I saw them. They are out in SC. The ones that you mentioned that go to Atlanta on the weekends have not gotten the email that drag is on in SC on the weekend.
Rachel Jul 15th 2008 9:32PM
There are places for that kind of (drag) behavior and it's not the mall.....Just like there are gentlemens clubs. Keep it out of the malls. Families shouldn't be subjected to either.
Owen Jul 15th 2008 9:28PM
Linda - #7 - I take great offense at "take it to California." I have lived in California all my life and I would hold our standards up against those of the outhouse trotting South any day of the week. I'll bet your daddy used to take you to lynchings for a birthday treat.
Lexi Jul 17th 2008 12:28PM
Owen said...
Linda - #7 - I take great offense at "take it to California." I have lived in California all my life and I would hold our standards up against those of the outhouse trotting South any day of the week. I'll bet your daddy used to take you to lynchings for a birthday treat.
____________________________________________
Owen: You are very ill-informed of what its like in the south. I've lived here all my life and have never seen an outhouse. Lynchings??????? Apparently your education (standard of learning) is not up to par with the south. Did your daddy take you to gangsta meetings or gay parades for your birthday treat?
John Jul 15th 2008 9:45PM
I am not a South Carolina-basher - I lived there three years - met my wife there, and lots of other perfectly normal, good people. I'm also not a gay-basher; I have gay friends, and I've tried to teach my kids tolerance of both gays and people who are uncomfortable with the concept of homosexuality. What I have noticed among teenagers in recent years, including my own, who I have admonished for it, is the use of the word "gay" to mean "uncool" or "stupid." And to be honest, when I saw this ad, that's what I initially registered, "South Carolina is so uncool." Folks in the UK have also seen this shift in meaning as used by the youth culture today. See Gay means rubbish, says BBC http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article671972.ece
obgeenee Jul 15th 2008 9:32PM
i suppose you dont want any couples that include a menopausal wife, since they cant have kids either, or any couples over 65yo for the same reason....as a southerner(florida), im ashamed of jackasses like you....
Ray Jul 17th 2008 12:42AM
As usual, you're mixing apricots and watermelons. You list CITIES in the US until you get to South Carolina, then you list a whole STATE.
No STATE in America is pro-homosexual I hope, though obviously some especially flaky, bombed-out crime-ridden CITIES are.
ABERRATIONS beget ABERRATIONS.
Junior Jul 15th 2008 10:42PM
IGNORANCE ==== ABERRATION, IDIOT
Frank Jul 15th 2008 9:36PM
Well, you know, people say the South will never rise again. Reading over some of these ignorant comments, it's no damned wonder. I think the statewide average IQ in South Carolina must be in the double digits....or less.
Sher Jul 15th 2008 9:43PM
I vote for all the gays to form their own country.....that way their perverted ways, and their diseases will remain contained in one spot!!!!!!!!!!! And I ain't from the south!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chanchman Jul 15th 2008 9:45PM
Two gays [HOMOS] will NEVER be a FAMILY. Just two perverts in lust not love.
Dayna Jul 15th 2008 9:45PM
Why can't You Guys understand that NC is the "back wood, hillbilly, sleep with Your mama while Your Dad sleeps with Your Sister, incestuous, dirty racist, hog humpin' white trailer trash KKK loving"state? Ignorance begets ignorance. Leave them to their trailers and hope a tornado takes them out. Normal People have better manners than that. Let the hillbillies sleep with their goats and beat their children. Allow the Straights and Gays to live harmoniously.
AJ Jul 15th 2008 11:04PM
Oh you are too funny :) love it!
Amy Jul 16th 2008 12:07AM
First off...the ad is about South Carolina, not North Carolina. I live in North Carolina. I am a lesbian, and it is very tolerant here. We are really quite progressive compared to the rest of the South, the Midwest, and some of the North. I live near the state line, and I can assure you that going into South Carolina, from North Carolina, is like going to a whole other country. The only place in South Carolina worth going to is Myrtle Beach, and trust me when I say, they really are pretty damn gay there. We walk on the beach and hold hands, swim together, and even kiss in public. No one says anything or even give us "the look." The rest of SC, however is just plain scary.
SueTwee Jul 15th 2008 9:47PM
I want you all to know I am not going to be rude or crude. I just want to bring a point of view that has been around for thousands of years. Being openly gay is only a recent phenomenon in the last 25-30 years. Society has shunned those who have given in to this inclination. Shunning comes as a natural reaction to something that is unnatural. Being gay does not mean you are a separate race. That means gays have no more rights than anybody else nor any special treatment. Being gay is a choice taken when one is older or an encouraged inclination as an infant/child. Everyone is capable of any thing under the sun and moon but, that does not make it right. We have choices to deal with every day. Lying, cheating, stealing, unfaithfulness, covetousness, and so forth....the worst of all that we can commit is to deny God and live and die without Christ. For all of us who would revile others in crude terms, you need to look to yourselves. We all need to answer to God for our choices in life.
Heather Jul 15th 2008 10:40PM
Sooooooooo not true. Greeks were homosexuals--Alexander the Great had many male concubines..Homosexuality is not a choice. Did you choose to be heterosexual? Are we all asexual at birth and then groomed to our presumptive sexual orientation? How would you then explain all the older generation homosexuals who were forced fed "Leave it to Beaver" while growing up that was the epitome of the heterosexual american dream? You can't-because it's not a choice. One doesn't choose what sex to be attracted to like one chooses a can of pop (or soda if you are, indeed, a southerner) You compare homosexuality to stealing? I suppose you also contribute down's syndrome to something like slothfulness or some asinine sin? My final note, what heterosexual male do you know that kisses other men--I can think of one, Jesus.