BREAKING: S.C. Gov. issued directive for “SC so gay” ad cancellation, Brit ad exec speaks to U.S. media

QNotes (Charlotte, NC), the Carolinas’ LGBT multimedia news source (disclosure: I’m employed as editor) is reporting that the directive to cancel the “South Carolina is so gay” London gay pride advertising campaign came straight from the office of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford:

When South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford learned that his state was being advertised as a gay tourism destination, he ordered a Cabinet-level department head “to do the right thing personnel-wise or process-wise to ensure this does not happen again,” Sanford’s spokesman Joel Sawyer told Q-Notes.

Sanford was reacting to U.S. media reports that a subway poster mounted in London, England, during Gay Pride week was announcing, “South Carolina is so gay.”

[snip]

In the Governor’s office, Sawyer said that the state will not promote itself as a tourist destination through campaigns “aimed at a specific group of people.”

Sawyer said the “so gay” ad should have been “run up the flagpole,” but did not know whether any standard procedures were violated at the time it was approved.

“It defies common sense that someone would sign off on an advertising campaign that controversial,” Sawyer said.

Asked whether South Carolina would, for example, position itself as a tourist destination for African-Americans by utilizing black media and promoting vacation spots of relevant cultural interest, Sawyer said that the state does not “get into targeting a specific group that might have a social or political agenda.”

Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now, the British ad agency that prepared the campaign, also spoke to QNotes, his first interview with a U.S. media outlet:

Out Now CEO Ian Johnson spoke to Q-Notes in his first interview with a U.S. media outlet regarding the upset from his gay marketing agency’s branch office in Brussels, Belgium. “The reaction from the South Carolina politicians is quite disturbing,” he said. “I felt sorry for the gay and lesbian community there.”

I’ve also written an editorial, “Sanford is so stupid.” Snippet below:

The recent flap over the “South Carolina is so gay” British ad campaign has left the heads of LGBT citizens in the Carolinas spinning.

What the hell happened and how’d it happen so fast? One minute, South Carolina’s going about its “Dixie”-whistling ways and the next it’s busting out with Barbara Streisand show tunes and musicals. Then, out of no where, the politicians take over and the Pink Palmetto is slammed back in the closet.

The story broken by QNotes — that the directive to do away with the “So Gay” campaign came straight from the office of Gov. Mark Sanford — puts a continued national spotlight on the Palmetto State.

Rumor has it that Gov. Sanford is on the short list in the Republican veepstakes. His name keeps popping up in GOP circles and his small government, anti-tax, libertarian-esque record would compliment Sen. John McCain.

Good stances on taxes and small government, though, don’t make good leaders. Sanford’s hostility toward LGBT citizens and his reluctance to deal with our existence are key character flaws. If Sanford hopes to be McCain’s V.P. (a pie-in-the-sky dream after his abysmal, Miss South Carolina-style performance on CNN), let’s hope he quickly learns the value of appreciating and valuing all of his constituency — gay or straight.

Posted in Anti-LGBT, LGBT, Media, South Carolina, United States |