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Opponents of gay unions featured in 'Freedom to Marry' ad

Opponents of gay unions featured in 'Freedom to Marry' ad

BY LESLEY CLARK

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the poster child for gay marriage? How about Sen. Mel Martinez, the Florida Republican who once accused an opponent of playing to the ``radical homosexual lobby''?

A coalition of civil rights groups that back gay marriage is using photos of prominent couples like the former Republican governor and his Mexican-born wife, Columba, along with the Cuban-born Martinez and his American-born wife, Kitty, in an advertising campaign marking the 40th anniversary of Loving vs. Virginia, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave interracial couples the right to marry.

Neither of the politicians responded to requests for comment, but the groups say they hope to use the couples and the court case to bolster their contention that marriage is a civil right that should know no bounds -- even for those of the same sex.
''We're honoring and celebrating something that just over 40 years ago some Americans said was immoral and wrong and could not happen,'' said Jimmy Creech, executive director of Faith in America, a gay rights advocacy group that is bankrolling the ad campaign. ``We're celebrating the wisdom that prejudice and bigotry was removed from the law books and Americans were given the right to marry the person they loved, regardless of race.''
The ''Freedom to Marry'' campaign -- to be launched Monday -- consists of six ads that will run in two Capitol Hill publications, Roll Call and Politico. They feature photos of interracial couples like golfer Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin, and former U.S. Defense Secretary Bill Cohen and his wife, Janet Langhart, who have written a book about their marriage, Love in Black and White. Couples of different ethnicities, like Bush and Martinez, also are featured.
Others in the ad: Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and his wife, Hong Le.
The ads note that 16 states still banned interracial marriages until the Supreme Court struck down a Virginia law in 1967, finding ``the freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.
''Jeb and Columba Bush couldn't marry today if discrimination were still the law of the land,'' the ad that features the former Florida First Couple reads.
John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney who is leading a petition drive to put a gay marriage ban on Florida's ballot in 2008, called the ads ''a little bit silly.'' And he suggested that no laws would have prevented people of differing ethnicities to wed.
''The ruling did not redefine the definition of marrige, it affirmed it and said that any male and any female has a right to marry, irrespective of race,'' Stemberger said. ``Segregation was clearly a social ill.''
And Stemberger suggested the ad puts the Florida couples in a ``false light.''
While Bush was governor, the state Republican Party gave $300,000 to the same-sex marriage ban petition drive, and Martinez last year co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to declare marriage as strictly between a man and a woman.
In addition to the Raleigh, N.C.-based Faith in America, the campaign's sponsors include the Asian American Justice Center, Freedom to Marry, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Hispanic National Bar Association, Lambda Legal, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Black Justice Coalition and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Herndon Davis, a spokesman for the National Black Justice Coalition, a nationwide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, said many Americans have no idea that interracial marriages were illegal in many states just 40 years ago.''We want to draw some parallels and comparisons to show that oppression is oppression and intolerance is intolerance,'' Davis said. ``Forty years ago, there were a lot of situations that weren't tolerated, and, as we have thankfully evolved around race and ethnicity, there's still intolerance.''

Makeup For … Men?

Thanks to macho products such as concealer, powder and, yes, mascara, today's man is taking his grooming to new heights.Don't be surprised if very soon your toiletry kit contains not only shaving cream, deodorant and toothpaste, but concealer, oil-absorbing face powder and brow gel.
That's because guys are relying on an increasing number of made-for-men products like these to put their best face forward.
"I think men are much more receptive to the whole grooming concept from start to finish. Makeup is sort of the final frontier," says Wendy Lewis, a beauty consultant and author of The Beauty Battle: An Insider's Guide to Wrinkle Rescue and Cosmetic Perfection from Head to Toe. "They're certainly concerned about camouflaging imperfections. The idea of a little light dusting of powder is no longer an extreme measure."
Experts say it's only natural that men would turn to makeup to look their best. Grooming, after all, has never been more acceptable. Last year, $4.8 million was spent on male grooming products in the U.S., a 7% increase over the year before and a whopping 42% increase from 2001, according to Euromonitor, a London-based marketing and research company.
And while still not the norm, makeup--including products from Clinique, Clarins and Jean Paul Gaultier--has become a more common part of the male beauty routine. Walk into megastores like Sephora or Macy's and you'll find a variety of masculine beauty products including bronzer and face masks. Clarin's Self-Tanning Gel for Men, for example, amps up skin color while evening out skin tone.
Buff And Bronzed KenMen, a Montreal-based cosmetics line founded in 2004 by Lee Gilbert, includes skin tints, body and face highlighter, and skin correcting sticks (otherwise known as concealer).
"My makeup artist friends were looking for a product for men that didn't scream, 'Look, I'm wearing makeup,' " she says. In the past year, she has seen a nearly 30% increase in online sales at www.kenmen.net, which also serves as an anonymous forum where men can ask about cosmetics without having to approach a salesperson at the beauty counter. Gilbert says makeup, not skin care products, account for a greater chunk of those sales.
"Men don't want a ton of choices," she says. "What they're really, really interested in is education."
That includes learning more about the beard and eyebrow corrector--filler that disguises sparse patches of hair--or learning how to apply KenMen's best-selling bronzer.
Can You Keep A Secret? Holly Doss, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist with an eponymous cosmetics brand, also believes discretion is the key to introducing men to makeup.
"Most of the feedback I've gotten,” she says, "is that they want to buy makeup without ever having to leave their home. They don't want to go and try anything out in 'real life.' "
Doss, who has worked in the entertainment industry under the tutelage of celebrity makeup artist Trish McEvoy, primarily sells foundation and concealer from her unisex line to men who want to look polished, but not pretty. She says they like that they can use their fingers for a fuss-free application.
Polished and Powerful OK, it does the job. But is manly makeup here to stay? Gilbert thinks so.
"In order to get that competitive edge, they have to look better," she says. "They're going to do whatever it takes--and there are products out there that can help them achieve this.”

Check out momentumgrooming.com

ASK

Alberta Society for Kink are hosting a B&D, S&M Campout for everyone into kink; including B&D, S&M, Gays, Lesbian, Voyeurs, Straight, Singles & Couples.

June 30 - July 2nd.

These events are being held at a very private acerage outside of Calgary. The cost is $40 per person in advance and $45 at the gate. Details and directions will be provided with ticket purchase.

Call 403-398-8896

The Best Party During Pride Calgary

If you have never been to the Calgary Eagle for Pride you are missing out! Go check it out this year... June 8th

Cap

Rosie, Rosie Rosie ; (

Rosie Plans Book, But Says It Won't Be Vindictiveby

Rosie O'Donnell has had "an interesting year," she confided Sunday, and a lot of it will be in her new book, "Celebrity Detox," coming this fall.
Speaking at a breakfast gathering at BookExpo America, the publishing industry's annual national convention, O'Donnell said her long-delayed memoir on fame will not be "vindictive" or "mean-spirited," but will offer a candid look at her very public life, including her brief, battling stint on "The View."
"It is, in fact, a drug," she said of fame, and spoke of seeing peers so radically, and scarily, transformed by celebrity that they looked like victims of "crystal meth."
O'Donnell, looking healthy but tired on a Sunday morning, noted that her book was supposed to come out a few years ago, but she decided it wasn't ready, not quite "cooked." Her time on "The View" convinced her she was ready to start baking again. She called the book "half blog," half "straight" writing.
Last month, O'Donnell ended an eight-month tenure on "The View" that lifted the show's ratings and, perhaps, the blood pressure of show creator Barbara Walters. O'Donnell feuded with Donald Trump and frequently had snippy exchanges with the more conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
"We've had to change the epilogue," she said of "Celebrity Detox," then joked that her next career move would be "auditioning for `The Apprentice.'"
©365Gay.com 2007

GAY MEDIA

This is quite interesting! Gay Advertising WORKS!

ADVERTISING IN GAY MEDIA GROWING THREE TIMES FASTER THAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA, 2006 GAY PRESS REPORT FINDS Annual Survey Finds Ad Spending in Gay Media Reached Record $223.3 Million http://www.primeaccess.net http://www.rivendellmedia.com New York City – Ad spending in the gay and lesbian press has grown at almost three times the rate of consumer magazines over the past ten years, according to a major annual survey released today. Ad spending in gay and lesbian publications in 2006 reached a record $223.3 million, an increase of 5.2% over 2005 and an increase of 205% since 1996, according to the 2006 edition of the Gay Press Report, the annual survey produced by advertising agency Prime Access Inc. and gay media representative firm Rivendell Media. During the same ten-year period, ad revenues for all consumer magazines increased by only 47%, translating to a compound annual growth rate of 4% for consumer magazines versus a ten-year growth rate of 11.8% for gay media. Howard Buford, founder and president of Prime Access, Inc., said the report reflects how far both corporate America and gay media have evolved since 1996, a watershed year that saw Ellen DeGeneres come out on prime time television and on the cover of Time magazine. "This year's report confirms how, in just one decade, gay and lesbian consumers have gone from an overlooked niche to an audience that Fortune 500 companies are working overtime to reach," said Buford. "The numbers make it clear that corporate America recognizes and values both the spending power and influence of gay consumers." Among Fortune 500® brands, more than 183 were active in the GLBT consumer market (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) in 2006, up from only 19 in 1994. Currently, the most popular product categories among these Fortune 500® brands are travel, financial services, automotive, fashion and entertainment. "Over the past ten years, the gay market has become one of the most coveted demographics in the advertising industry," said Todd Evans, president and CEO of Rivendell. "Gay and lesbian consumers have more discretionary time than their straight counterparts, and Fortune 500® companies and local businesses alike are committing more and more advertising dollars to reach them. Higher brand loyalty and less advertising clutter also make the GLBT market quite attractive." Produced annually by advertising agency Prime Access Inc. and gay media representative firm Rivendell Media, the 2006 Gay Press Report provides a unique, historical perspective on the gay and lesbian market. This year's survey analyzed 131 individual publications targeting gay and lesbian consumers, including local and national newspapers, consumer magazines and entertainment guides. Starting in 1999, Prime Access Inc. joined forces with Rivendell Media to co- publish The Gay Press Report. In the GLBT market, Prime Access represents more Fortune 500® companies than any other advertising agency. Rivendell Media represents over 200 gay and lesbian publications in the U.S. and Canada.