A billboard advertisement for popular gay lifestyles website Gay.com has stirred up a bit of controversy after inciting protests from a Massachusetts pro-family group who have since erroneously claimed that their efforts resulted in the billboard’s removal.
The advertisement, which depicted two shirtless men embracing while wrapped in an American flag next to a slogan that read, “Come Together,” was put up in March as part of Gay.com’s nationwide publicity campaign. The billboard has been up ever since, with nary a complaint until this week, when conservative group Article 8 Alliance began to raise a stink about it.
Claiming Gay.com is “a pornographic homosexual website [where members] pay to learn how you can ‘hook up’ with other guys,” Article 8 spokesman Brian Camenker urged fellow pro-family activists to call or write to Clear Channel Communications (the billboard’s owner) to have the billboard taken down.
In a story published Thursday on Christian news site AgapePress.com, writer Jim Brown noted that Camenker “believes the Gay.com billboard represents yet more fallout from the state’s legalization of homosexual ‘marriage,’” and implied that the billboard “and messages like it are only the beginning of a well-plotted campaign” to push the homosexual lifestyle. Later in the day, the website posted an update stating, “Article 8 Alliance reports that the company responsible for installing the sign … is taking down the sign later today.”
Though some might assume Clear Channel backed down because of the protestors, that is not the case, said Gay.com spokesman Spencer Moore. “The billboard in Boston was part of a campaign that began in February and March. There is no controversy that is causing us or Clear Channel to bring it down. Our contract [for the billboard] has simply run its course.” Moore went on to say the stink raised by Article 8 is simply smoke and mirrors. “They [(Article 8)] want people to believe their rants caused the billboard to come down, but that’s simply not the case. This thing has been up since February, and has been seen by thousands with no complaints.”
Moore pointed to Article 8’s “distortion of things” and the outright “spreading of lies” regarding content found on Gay.com – which does contain an adult section for paid members, but is in actuality a reputable source of arts and entertainment news – as the basis for dismissing the group’s claims. “The question is, how much credence do you give to these folks?” he said. “They are simply fringe activists who are really all about trying to get publicity so they can appear larger than what they really are. I wouldn’t give them the credit they are seeking.”
Still, with left-wing journalists picking up their own pens to counter Camenker’s claims, Moore said the faux controversy could be a good thing. “You have both sides kind of playing the issue, which, you know … controversy creates awareness and makes people talk about things,” he offered. “And maybe they should talk about them. But the fact is these fringe people did not get the billboard taken down. It was going down anyway.”
