Friday, February 06, 2009


NGLTF's Winter Party Ad = Racism, Pro-Muscle?

One thing the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is known for in its everyday work, and certainly a crucial part of its annual Creating Change conference, is its broad focus on important issues other than gay rights, including, racism and sexism, affirmative action, ageism, bodyism and discrimination against fat people, and economic disparities.

But none of those concerns seem to have gone into the making of the official ad selling the upcoming Winter Party in Miami to gays with disposable income.

Look at the two smiling muscle same-sex couples, frolicking for a good cause, young and white, without an ounce of flab on their bones, enticing you to get out the credit cards and spend, spend, spend money on getting to the Winter Party, staying in a hot hotel and making the hottest parties with the hottest guys and gals. Dig all those white lines, Tina, swirling around the white couples. Don't forget to parTy safely now.

Bu where are the people of color in the ad? The furry, the mature and the flabby?

Quite odd that the progressive NGLTF would embrace a marketing campaign that in no way reflects the rainbow diversity of folks who might also be at this circuit party. A few of the photos from last year's Winter Party shows a spinkling of mature or big boned or colorful people at the events. Guess those folks don't sell tickets, so they were left out of the ads.

I wonder how Creating Change participants, after attending workshops on the -isms we should all be concerned with and battling to erase, would rate the NGLTF White Party ad. Can anyone say NGLTF is practicing what it preaches about diversity and breaking out of our comfort zones by excluding everyone other than white young well-built gays and lesbians with great dental insurance?

1 comment:

Friend of Jonathan said...

One thought or two - with no value judgement implied either way . . . just something to think about:

Since this soft-core imagery objectifies the persons photographed (and symbolized) - and that makes the implicit message carried by other sizes, ages and ethnicities of models even more unpredictable -

maybe the promotions folks thought there'd be the least harm in objectifying those most accepted by society - attractive white people?

Could the choice have been limited by the availability of models - people who were willing to have their barely clad bodies and faces linked to a gay event?

I sure don't envy who ever has to make the decision of which models to use, for any advertising campaign.