{"id":556,"date":"2008-07-10T16:12:30","date_gmt":"2008-07-10T21:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kevinbryant.com\/?p=556"},"modified":"2008-07-10T16:12:30","modified_gmt":"2008-07-10T21:12:30","slug":"scprt-funding-program-to-market-sc-as-gay-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/scprt-funding-program-to-market-sc-as-gay-state\/","title":{"rendered":"SCPRT FUNDING PROGRAM TO MARKET SC AS ‘GAY STATE’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Palmetto Scoop has learned that the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism \u2014 a state agency overseen by the Gov. Mark Sanford\u2019s office \u2014 is spending an undisclosed amount of its nearly $14 million advertising budget to take part in the \u201cSo Gay\u201d campaign, an effort launched in London, England, by the gay marketing agency \u201cOut Now\u201d to lure homosexual tourists to South Carolina and five U.S. cities.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Out Now is dubbing it \u201cthe gayest ever mainstream media advertising campaign\u201d in London.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as \u2019so gay,\u2019\u201d Sen. David Thomas (R-Greenville) told The Palmetto Scoop.\u00a0 \u201cSouth Carolina is a wonderful, family friendly destination not a Southern version of San Francisco. This campaign goes against our core values.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas said he would be calling for a comprehensive audit of PRT, an agency in the governor\u2019s cabinet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Greg Delleney (R-York), echoed Thomas\u2019 concerns, citing questions over \u201cwhether or not the governor or anyone in charge at PRT authorized this expenditure.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s simply unbelievable that PRT would be using our tax money to promote the homosexual lifestyle,\u201d said Delleney.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer could not be reached for comment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But Kirsty Dillury, a spokesperson for South Carolina Tourism, called the \u201cSo Gay\u201d campaign an important one.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Carolina has a lot to offer gay travelers, and we think that people may be surprised to see our destination reaching out to the gay market,\u201d Dillury said in aJune 27 press release. \u201cWe are delighted to be involved with the \u2018So Gay\u2019 campaign in particular as it sends a powerful positive message to everyone that there is nothing wrong at all with a destination being described as \u2019so gay.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dillury continued, \u201cFor our gay visitors it is actually quite wonderful for them to discover just how much South Carolina has to offer \u2014 from stunning plantation homes to miles of wide sandy beaches.\u201d [\u2026]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read the Palmetto Scoop article<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

See SC Gay Poster<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

UPDATE (07.11.08)<\/span><\/strong><\/span>:<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u2018S.C. is so gay\u2019? State says no way
\nOfficials pull overseas ad campaign to lure homosexual tourists
\nBy JOHN O\u2019CONNOR – joconnor@thestate.com
\nSouth Carolina is so gay poster
\nSouth Carolina\u2019s top tourism agency has canceled an overseas advertising campaign targeting gay tourists.
\nThe campaign, tied to gay pride week celebrations in London, included ads that proclaimed \u201cSouth Carolina is so gay.\u201d A handful of other U.S. destinations joined the campaign, including Atlanta, Boston and New Orleans.\u00a0 Read the State Article<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Palmetto Scoop has learned that the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism \u2014 a state agency overseen by the Gov. Mark Sanford\u2019s office \u2014 is spending an undisclosed amount of its nearly $14 million advertising budget to take part in the \u201cSo Gay\u201d campaign, an effort launched in London, England, by the gay marketing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gEQ0-8Y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevinbryant.com\/kbarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}