Urban Outfitters channels the Holocaust — again?

Via Bloomberg

Once is an accident, maybe. Twice is... suspect.

After being called out for a t-shirt design that some found reminiscent of the Star of David patch German Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, the Anti-Defamation League has brought public attention to this tapestry.

In a similarity that is much stronger than the t-shirt in the previous scandal, this textile seems to mimic both the pink triangle the Nazis used to identify men arrested as homosexuals and the grey striped uniforms of the death camps.

Via Instinct

One can only hope that this is a terrible coincidence and not someone's sick idea of a hip cultural reference. But so far, there doesn't seem to be any apology (or response of any kind) by Urban Outfitters.

Thanks to Laura for the tip.

Hotel chain that loves Mitt Romney also loves women who love women

According to Buzzfeed Politics, Marriott International "once counted Mitt Romney as a corporate board member" and its owner "is among the candidate's top donors."

They have also launched a campaign targeted to gay women called "Be you, with us". Which is cool.

And this is no stealth campaign. From the press release: 

“We are proud of this campaign and of our long-standing reputation for our commitment to diversity and inclusion,” says Joanna Todd, vice president, segment strategy.  “Our core strength lies in our ability to embrace differences and make everyone feel respected and valued when they visit and stay in our hotels.  Later this year, we will also launch new campaigns to reach African American and Latino audiences.”

The campaign is by UniWorld Group, Inc., Marriott’s Multicultural Marketing agency, along with the company’s LGBT communications specialist, Bob Witeck, President of Witeck Communications. 

The Lesbian and Gay Travel section of their web site adds:

We’re proud to say Marriott was one of the first hotel companies to offer equal benefits to same-sex couples nationwide, earning us top ratings on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. 

We want our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender guests to feel at home at every Marriott property. We invite you to explore Pride celebrations around the globe, find special travel offers and packages, and discover all the ways we’re celebrating with you.

Which is awesome. But it should be interesting to see what happens when the worlds of Mitt "marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman" Romney and "Be you, with us" collide.

As they certainly will, once One Million Morons Moms gets a whiff of this...

Sex, lies, and the politics of hate

Remember last week's awful ad (new window) from the "Institute for Canadian Values" about Ontario's proposed sex ed curriculum? With its blatantly anti-GLBTQ message and manipulative imagery, it even got the National Post to apologize for running it in the first place.

Well, there's another one. A pamphlet. And according to Torontoist it was paid for by Ontario's Progressive (ha!) Conservative Party:

The Globe and Mail gives Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak's defence of the publication:

When asked if he supported the message, Mr. Hudak turned the question around on the Liberals and suggested the party was out of touch with mainstream voters.

“My little girl Miller – it’s her birthday today – is just four and she has started JK,” he said. “The notion that Dalton McGuinty thinks a priority in education is sex-education curriculum starting at Grade 1 when they should be learning their ABCs and how to tie their shoes is another example of how Dalton McGuinty has lost touch with mainstream Ontario.”

The Globe has also endorsed the Liberal Premier, Dalton McGuinty, for re-election on Thursday's provincial vote.

Interestingly, the quotes in the ad are not from any proposed provincial curriculum, but rather from a Toronto District School Board booklet on "Challenging Homophobia and Heterosexism".

And as CBC points out, the copy is full of misrepresentations and outright fabrications.

The flyer includes one quote from the document —"cross-dressing for six-year olds"— that can't be found anywhere in the TDSB document. The flyer also says the quotes are taken from the K-12 curriculum. But the quotes are not included in the curriculum, only in the anti-homophobia resource guide.

This election campaign was already ugly. Now it's evil, too.

(Thanks to Martha W. for the tip)

F'd Ad Fridays: Assholery of the week

This ad is from the so-called "Institute for Canadian Values" and it was placed in mainstream media in advance of the Ontario provincial election. It's a reaction to a proposed sex ed curriculum in public schools:

"Under the abandoned curriculum, Grade 1 students would have been taught the correct terms for body parts, including genitalia, which can help prevent sexual abuse.

But what sparked the ire of social conservatives was that Grade 3 students would have learned about homosexuality.

Sixth-graders would be taught about masturbation.

In Grade 7, concepts of anal and oral sex would have been introduced."

The Liberal government, if re-elected, has promised to do more "parent consultation" before proceeding.

The only confused people I see here are the advertisers, who are convinced that sexual orientation is a choice (and that someone would choose a path that would lead to being discriminated against by assholes like them).

Regardless, their ad has caused a lot of activity on social media, with this response from trans activist Chase Joynt:

Thanks to Marc for the tip.

UPDATE: The National Post has apologized for choosing to run the ad.

Lisbon gay film festival reveals the closeted characters in your favourite movies

Marc put this Queer Lisboa campaign on Osocio, but I wanted to share it here too. Some of them are pretty funny (if only for the accents).







This last one I thought was already acknowledged as a "gay movie". But anyway...