South Carolina will be 'so gay'

[The Spartan]

A link in a dress.

South Carolina will be 'so gay'
Group hopes controversial ads will stir interest in gay pride celebration
The Associated Press
updated 11:55 a.m. CT, Wed., Sept. 17, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Members of a South Carolina gay rights organization said Tuesday they hope a recent controversy about ads proclaiming the state "so gay" will stir up interest in this year's gay pride celebration.

"We truly believe that this week, South Carolina is 'so gay,'" said Ryan Wilson, president of SC Pride.

The annual South Carolina Pride Festival and Celebration is being held in Columbia this week. Events include a film festival, parade and appearance by entertainer and female impersonator RuPaul. Wilson said he expects about 7,000 to attend.

The theme: "South Carolina will be so gay," a reference to an ad campaign that roiled the state this summer. The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism originally joined the campaign, which was to include posters overseas saying "South Carolina is so gay" and encouraging gay travelers to visit the state's historic sites and beaches. But the state agency dropped out in July, saying the project hadn't been properly reviewed, and a tourism department employee involved in the promotion resigned.

Now, Wilson says his group has raised more than $1,000 toward paying the state's $5,000 bill for the ads, receiving donations from across the country.

"We had one letter from a gay couple. They were getting married in California and they said their gift to each other was donating to gay organizations around the country, and $50 of that was for our organization," Wilson said. "Getting letters like that really show that an international movement is happening."

An intermediary agency hired by the state tourism department to market South Carolina abroad has not been paid back the $5,000 it laid out to pay for the ads, but Parks Department spokesman Marion Edmonds says the London advertising contractor has agreed to eat the loss.

"The contracted representatives have declined to accept payment in acknowledgment that it (the ad campaign) was not part of our marketing plan," Edmonds said. "So the money that's being raised by SC Pride, I guess they'll decide what to do with that."


At $16 billion a year, tourism is South Carolina's largest industry.

Wilson also said he would present certificates to two politicians critical of the ad campaign. Gov. Mark Sanford said in July that taxpayer funds shouldn't be used for ads that promote any group with a particular social or political agenda, and David Thomas, a Republican state senator from Greenville, called for an audit of the state tourism agency after learning of the ad campaign.

"We feel that the governor and Sen. Thomas have proven that their homophobia is 'so gay,'" said Wilson, adding that he welcomed a dialogue on the issue with both men. "The best thing we could see would be the state actually paying their bill and the money that we've raised going to charity.

Thomas did not return a messages seeking comment left at his Greenville law office. He told Time magazine for an article in July that he thought the ad might mislead gay travelers about what is in South Carolina for them. "They'll get off the plane and say, 'Where are the gay beaches?' and no one will know what they are talking about."

A spokesman for Sanford reiterated the governor's comments about targeted advertising.

Honestly, I can't help but laugh. This in a state so backwards they still fly the Confederate flag on state grounds (or did last I checked) as a "compromise" to not flying it over the fucking state capitol building.

Oh, and the govenor and this Senator Thomas fellow can kiss my pale white ass if they think I don't see right through their bullshit.

P.S. Click the link to see the poster.

[Marko Dash]

for a few seconds i thought this was going to be something about the pink firetruck that's been in the papers.

[Darth Raptor]

An ad campaign urging foreign homosexuals to visit the southern United States probably isn't the best of all possible ideas.

[Saxtonite]

An ad campaign urging foreign homosexuals to visit the southern United States probably isn't the best of all possible ideas.

Columbia is the state capitol of South Carolina and its' largest city however.

Honestly, I can't help but laugh. This in a state so backwards they still fly the Confederate flag on state grounds (or did last I checked) as a "compromise" to not flying it over the fucking state capitol building.

I'm not sure how that is backwards, can you please explain it? IIRC the pro-confederate flag people were doing it as 'southern pride' and not racism or the like. Please explain.

[Anguirus]

I'm not sure how that is backwards, can you please explain it? IIRC the pro-confederate flag people were doing it as 'southern pride' and not racism or the like. Please explain.

Try telling that to a black person and see how far that gets you. The Confederate flag is considered the symbol of a nation that came into existence and started a bloody war in order to keep black people slaves. It's no better than the Nazi swastika and should be treated as such.

[Jadeite]

I'm not sure how that is backwards, can you please explain it? IIRC the pro-confederate flag people were doing it as 'southern pride' and not racism or the like. Please explain.

"Southern pride" should be nothing of the sort, given its history of racism, exploitation, and treason.

[Saxtonite]

Try telling that to a black person and see how far that gets you.

I know; I'm a black guy who lives in the South Side of Chicago

The Confederate flag is considered the symbol of a nation that came into existence and started a bloody war in order to keep black people slaves..

Didn't they secede in response to Lincoln's election as no electoral votes from the South went to Lincoln and in fact, Lincoln wasn't even on the election in many southern states which prompted them to secede; as the government was not in their hands (that was their logic IIRC)

Yes I am aware of how hate groups, the Klan, etc placed the confederate flag in response to civil rights groups, etc but now the current use of it is non-racist and trying to show regionalism. I guess the past still taints that. Okay.

[Phantasee]

Man, you need to do some real research. Rogue 9 can give you a mountain of evidence that shows the CSA was created for precisely the reason stated by Anguirus.

[The Spartan]

Saxonite:

The Confederacy, in spite of what apologists (and I used to be one) say, was founded upon slavery. If you go and look at their Declarations of Secession you'll find that they spend most of their time whining about wanting to keep their slaves. Further, the Vice President of the Confederacy stated, outright, that slavery was the "cornerstone" of Confederate Society. Finally, if it really was about state rights, then why did the Confederate Constitution explicitly require any future member to be a slave state rather than being allowed to decide for themselves.

This is all pretty barebones but if we wait a short while I'm sure that Rogue 9 will be along with links and, if not, I can probably get them when I get home.

Something else to consider, even if we presume that it was about state rights; which is bullshit but let's go with it for a moment, the Confederates were in open rebellion against their country, i.e. they were commiting treason. The people most likely to "honor" those said same treasonous people in the name of Southern Pride or Supporting the War Dead or whatever are also the most likely to be one of those who shriek about any thing bad said about the current administration as though we must always support what the president does, at least as long as it's a Republican. Interesting piece of hypocrisy there, but it's something that I can't help but point out.

[Aaron]

Didn't they secede in response to Lincoln's election as no electoral votes from the South went to Lincoln and in fact, Lincoln wasn't even on the election in many southern states which prompted them to secede; as the government was not in their hands (that was their logic IIRC)

Yes I am aware of how hate groups, the Klan, etc placed the confederate flag in response to civil rights groups, etc but now the current use of it is non-racist and trying to show regionalism. I guess the past still taints that. Okay.

I believe Lusyanka posted this on the CSA constitution a while back. Here's a taste:

(1) The importation of negroes of the African race from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories of the United States of America, is hereby forbidden; and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.

I suggest you read the link, it's quite obvious that the CSA formed to protect slavery.

[Aaron]

Ghetto Edit:

To back up The Spartans point Article IV Sect 3 of the CSA constitution states:

(3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Congress shall have power to legislate and provide governments for the inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the several Sates; and may permit them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide, to form States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected be Congress and by the Territorial government; and the inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories shall have the right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confederate States.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Man, you need to do some real research. Rogue 9 can give you a mountain of evidence that shows the CSA was created for precisely the reason stated by Anguirus.

Agreed. [World ends]. Trust me Saxonite I live in the South and it seems flying the Rebel flag has a direct effect on how racist a given person is, I've found this out hundreds of times over the years.