U.S.A. Tourism Promotion Video "Celebrates Homosexuality" For Two Seconds. Oh My!

[Jingthing]

I missed it the first time. Maybe it's subliminal!

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WWUA1CXIku8[/media]

The ad promoting tourism to the US seemed innocuous enough, but Family Research Council president Tony Perkins warns that the advertising campaign is being used to “highlight same-sex attractions.” The Discover America ad highlights diversity in the US, including a song by Rosanne Cash and images of an interracial couple, two Muslim women in a city and people celebrating the Hindu festival Holi. But Perkins is peeved by its attempt “to celebrate homosexuality” by featuring a man with his arm around his partner on a bus for almost two seconds.

http://www.rightwing...ring-gay-couple

If Israel uses "pinkwashing" I wonder what you'd call this two second "pro-gay" blip. Maybe pink homeopathy?

BTW, I love the video. Makes me kind of homesick.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Looking at this video again, I noticed there isn't enough promotion of typical American foodstuffs which surely are a great draw for international tourists.

Such as:

BURRITOS

VIETNAMESE PHO

Next time, they should show two seconds of an interracial couple (a Somoan American butch dyke and a transgendered Palestinian American radical faerie in a dress) eating a Mission district burrito together, holding it up and eating it snake style from both ends. Now that's promotional entertainment!

"Gay food" at "gay restaurants"? Not so much.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Jingthing

[geriatrickid]

How does anyone know the guy is a "homosexual". My friend has a habit of putting his arm around me when we ride the subway. He's 100% hetero. .Why is a simple act of friendship or dare I say, affection considered "homosexual"? Where's it written guys aren't allowed to do this? Many of my friends give hugs and it's a common occurrence for teenagers and 20 somethings in US urban centers to do this. It's annoying to read about political correctness gone mad;

Australia: http://www.heraldsun...6-1225954944584

New Jersey, USA: http://newyork.cbslo...l-bans-hugging/

More hugging means less killing. If I was a tourist visiting NYC, I'd rather see some guys hugging than making gang signs.

Edited June 7, 2012 by geriatrickid

[Fookhaht]

How does anyone know the guy is a "homosexual". My friend has a habit of putting his arm around me when we ride the subway. He's 100% hetero.

He knows you're gay, so he's "accommodating" you.

[Jingthing]

This was a produced ad made by Americans. Yes in many cultures two men showing affection that way on a street car would not assumed to be homosexual. In America, yes they absolutely would be. The theme of the ad is OBVIOUSLY to milk the diversity of the USA in many aspects. I bet they INTENDED to show the men on a street car to represent gay Americans. The people complaining were not politically correct types; instead it was an anti-gay right wing group who also didn't not like the emphasis on ETHNIC diversity, interracial couples, etc.

Of course people watching the ad from cultures with less rigid lines of adult male affection would probably not see the scene as showing gay men if they even noticed the short blip.

Straight men in America MAY show affection physically. During sporting event victories, etc. Enjoy.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Jingthing

[tombkk]

Yes, there is a short showing of two men in a streetcar what appears to me to be a gay couple. Most of the couples shown in the video are heterosexuals though. I don't understand how this video, which shows people of different walks of life in the US, can be construed as being used to “highlight same-sex attractions.”