Gay tourism ad causes uproar in S. Carolina

[rpannier]

A state employee has resigned and officials have disavowed an international advertising campaign that led to calls for an investigation of tourism posters proclaiming “South Carolina is so gay.”

The campaign, which plastered the London subway with posters advertising the charms of South Carolina and five major U.S. cities to gay European tourists, landed with a resounding thud in South Carolina, where the issue of gay rights has long been a political flashpoint.

The advertisements were timed for London’s Gay Pride Week, which ended Saturday. The posters touted the attractions of the state to gay tourists, including its “gay beaches” and its Civil War-era plantations.

snip

After The Palmetto Scoop, a South Carolina political blog, uncovered the promotion last week, Republican state Sen. David Thomas of Greenville protested the campaign and called for an audit of the $13 million advertising budget overseen buy the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25677373

[gratuitous]

1. There are no gays in South Carolina

Just like there aren't any in Iran!

[tomreedtoon]

2. "We won't lynch you. We promise. Pinky swear."

Hey, if Brits are dumb enough to go to a place where books are illegal, and the gay tourists believe they won't end up being dragged to death by a pickup truck, they deserve to go for it. It is morally abhorrent to allow a sucker to keep his money.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Oh, I hope this makes them secede. n/t

[JI7]

4. has Lindsey Graham commented on this ?

[NCDem60]

5. Yep. He told gays to stop whining.

[mwooldri]

6. Oxford English Dictionary definition of "gay":

Adjective:
1. Noble; beautiful; excellent, fine.
2. Bright or lively-looking, esp. in colour; brilliant, showy.
3. Of persons, their attributes, actions, etc.: light-hearted, carefree; manifesting, characterized by, or disposed to joy and mirth; exuberantly cheerful, merry; sportive. Also in extended use.
4. orig. U.S. slang. (a) Of a person: homosexual; (b) (of a place, milieu, way of life, etc.) of or relating to homosexuals.
5. Brit. regional. In good health; well, convalescent.

As far as the original advert goes: insert meanings 1 or 2 of "gay" in there and it works very well. The reaction is just as bad as to what that Christian-right-wing online news service does with the word "gay" - and got caught out when copying an AP article about Tyson Gay.

Mark.