You can purchase an autographed copy of Anything But Straight by sending a $35 check or money order to:
-------------------------
Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
Truth Wins Out (TWO) unveiled a hard-hitting full-page ad today that will be published in The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday, under the headline, "Lies in the Name of the Lord."
TWO's provocative advertisement is in response to an ad by anti-gay activists in last Friday's New York Times, that falsely portrayed protests against Proposition 8 - a ballot measure in California that prohibited same sex couples from marrying - as mob violence.
Clearly, the goal of anti-gay activists is an orchestrated campaign to rewrite history and vilify the gay and lesbian community. Yet, history teaches us the danger of ignoring the "Big Lie" and we do so at our own peril. This is why I felt Truth Wins Out (TWO) had no choice but to act - and do so decisively. We are a small organization, but not afraid to rise to the challenge when our community is threatened.
Our headline is bold. Truth Wins Out believes that when our opponents defame us, we must strike back - twice as hard. If we do not fight and defend ourselves, we will never gain full equality. No one will hand us our rights -- we must take them.
If you like our ad I need your help.
Even though times are tough, I placed the $6,000 full-page ad because we had to fight back. If you can give a $10 tax-deductible contribution to help cover the cost of this ad, please do so. If you are able to sponsor the entire ad or give a gift of $1,000 - we need your urgent assistance.
Together, we can stand up to anti gay lies and win full equality. We no longer have to sit back and take it. Let's all do our part.
21 Comments:
Wonderful idea, but shouldn't the ad be in the NY Times to counter the anti-gay ad that was placed there?
posted by Priya Lynn, at
12/10/2008 12:10 PM
Donation sent! The Pinocchio character is cute. I can think of a few things I would have done with his nose, but then that would have defeated the purpose of the ad. >;) Note to Priya--a NYT ad would cost a small fortune. We dont have deep pockets like the fascist right does.
posted by gary, at
12/10/2008 12:14 PM
Priya:
I wish I could also do the New York Times. But, that is $50,000 - $100,000 dollars. I'd need some of that federal bailout dough to afford such a price.
Sigh... I suppose since it's aimed at religious people it should try to use their logic, including their assumption that the Bible is a fundamentally moral book. On wikipedia we call that writing in an "in-universe" style.
Wayne, look for my check in the mail. Have you thought about sending what you've written in the ad to the NY Times editor anyway? Can't hurt. Who knows, maybe they'll publish it.
posted by Robert, NYC., at
12/10/2008 3:14 PM
Isn't it a great ad? Bill Donohue is going to turn red. But all joking aside, the ad is incredibly effective... Donohue, Colson, et. al., are claiming to all of a sudden be "defenders of the Mormon church" but they are anything but. This ad shows the truth.
posted by Chris L., at
12/10/2008 3:22 PM
Wayne I forgot to tell you. Business has been REALLY slow since October, but I just donated $100 to you on my Visa for this ad. It's about time someone serve notice on these people that they can't condemn us in the name of God and then expect no response. I don't care what financial situation anyone is in. This is in the "must do" category.
If you have at least $100 credit on any of your credit cards, you should give a hundred bucks. It is not THAT big a deal. Wayne, thanks for putting your neck out on this. I'm sure the religious right is going to (1) go nuts and (2) try to cause you much pain.
posted by Chris L., at
12/10/2008 4:00 PM
Robert and Chris - thank you both so much!
Robert, I wrote a separate op-ed for the New York Times. I hope the accept it.
posted by Wayne Besen, at
12/10/2008 5:15 PM
What a wonderful project. KUDOS
I rarely have $5 in my pocket, but I do have some friends who have more than most. are you close to getting the money you need?
posted by rusty, at
12/10/2008 5:57 PM
Maaah Goooness....all this over a little Martha Stewart baking powder. Well count me in on some dollars, I love Martha Stewart.
posted by Devlin, at
12/10/2008 6:00 PM
Maaah Goooness . . . all this over a little Martha Stewart baking powder . . . Well count me in, I love Martha Stewart.
I'll be getting some money in the next month or so and when I do, I will gladly send you a donation. The ad is great! You cannot have things both ways--you are either a person of faith or you are a person of fibs.
Congrats on a well-done ad! Unfortunately some people seem to be severely truth-challenged and they need to be caled out.
posted by Merlyn, at
12/11/2008 1:55 AM
Wayne, you are most welcome. Good job.....it will be great if the NY Times publishes your response, lets hope it happens.
Who are these individuals posting gobbledy-gook on here. Is it done to annoy or deter us from coming here? If it is, they clearly haven't succeeded.
My check is already on its way for $100. You should receive it by tomorrow (friday) or latest monday.
Wayne, you and others are probably aware of this but William Donohue, president of the Catholic League based in New York has publicly stated that pedophilia is synonymous with a gay orientation in the majority of cases. He makes this statement based on his sociology degree credentials. He said this in the context of the priest molestation scandal of course. This is one dangerous bigot you will undoubtedly receive a lot of flack from.
posted by Robert, NYC., at
12/11/2008 8:23 AM
Wayne ran the ad in the progressive Utah paper, the Salt Lake Tribune, not the more conservative Desert News, so the advertising cost goes to and benefits the correct paper!
As for the people who post this "gobbly-gook" or whatever, I don't think it's malicious. I think it comes from software which claims to automatically advertise in 100s of places on the web. The software is so badly targeted that blogs like this get these messy postings.
posted by Chris L., at
12/11/2008 10:02 AM
Chris, thanks for the info on the gobbledy-gook. I had no idea that could be the reason but thought perhaps it was done deliberately by some of the malcontents who sneak in here under other names.
Wayne, I've already mentioned this in the more recent article you posted but have you thought about sending the ad to Neil Giuliano of GLAAD? I'm sure he'd be interested since the NY Times ad is blatant defamation to say the least.
posted by Robert, NYC., at
12/11/2008 11:45 AM
Yes, Robert, when I first went into business for myself some years ago, I bought software that said it would "automatically" post my ads to "thousands of blogs, websites, etc.," and it produced exactly the type of gobbley-gook that Wayne has thankfully removed. It was a bad idea, but some of these "ad blasters" are still in use I guess.
It could have been malicious also, who knows. But I bet when the haters show up, it will be more pointed, like the usual "Gays are mentally ill" crap.
posted by Chris L., at
12/11/2008 12:42 PM
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