State Employee Resigns over “SC Is So Gay” Ad Campaign

By Robert Kittle

Published: July 11, 2008

The low-level South Carolina state employee who approved a controversial ad campaign aimed at gay tourists has resigned, according to state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism director Chad Prosser. Posters in London subways say, “South Carolina is so gay. Explore an America most never see. From plantations to the Civil War. Golf to gay beaches.“ Similar posters proclaim Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. as being “so gay”. The campaign is sponsored by Amro Worldwide, a company that specializes in “gay travel”, and is aimed at people who are in London for gay pride events.

But state tourism officials never approved the state’s participation in the ad campaign.  Prosser says the agency’s independent contractor in the United Kingdom presented a proposal to a lower-level PRT employee, and that employee approved it as part of a larger package of tour-operator participations. As soon as Prosser and higher-level PRT officials found out exactly what the program was, they contacted their UK representative and said the state would not participate and no state money would go to the program. It would have cost state taxpayers almost $5,000.

“Our tourism marketing funds are for the purpose of bringing visitors to South Carolina, not for getting involved in various social agendas,“ Prosser told News Channel 7. He says the lower-level employee resigned, and the agency is taking steps to make sure nothing similar happens again.

Palmetto Family Council president and CEO Dr. Oran Smith says, “South Carolinians don’t care for their tax money to be invested in ways that they don’t think is consistent with their values and I think promoting gay tourism is inconsistent with South Carolina values.“  He says it also doesn’t make financial sense to invest in something that doesn’t match the state’s target audience, which is families.

Amro Worldwide says the “so gay” campaign is to reverse the negative connotation of the phrase and to turn it into something positive.

Read Amy Wood’s blog on the “so gay” campaign