South Carolina is canceling a state travel promotional campaign. Why? Because it targets gays, reports MSNBC.com. The state pulled tourism posters timed for London's Gay Pride Week, which proclaimed "South Carolina is so gay," after a blog called The Palmetto Scoop exposed the promotional campaign.
"South Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as 'so gay,'" said Republican state Sen. David Thomas of Greenville in a statement. He also called for an audit of the advertising budget for the state's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Similar ads were posted in London for Boston, Atlanta, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., although no backlash has been reported in any of those cities. But in South Carolina, the state employee who approved the campaign has resigned, and the state tourism department has canceled the contract, saying it will not pay $5,000 for the posters. Top tourism officials deny knowing about the ads, although when the promotional campaign was first announced last month, the tourism board said in a statement that it would send a positive message.
"For our gay visitors, it is actually quite wonderful for them to discover just how much South Carolina has to offer--from stunning plantation homes to miles of wide sandy beaches," the statement said.
A South Carolina gay group, the SC Pride Movement, is planning to raise money to pay for the ads. The group's president, Ryan Wilson, says he wants to restore the state's good name, according to MSNBC.com.
So how much money could South Carolina lose by shunning the gay market? A lot, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, which estimates the gay-tourism market in the United States at $64.5 billion.
Click here to read the entire story on MSNBC.com.
