The Advertising Standards Authority says a 'gay-o-meter' billboard seen in central Wellington is "socially irresponsible" and "offensive". Ruled offensive: Haveyoursay's 'gay-o-meter' billboard Several complainants told the Authority their concerns about the billboard, which promoted new opinion website Haveyoursay.co.nz. The billboard’s graph equated 'degree of homophobia' with 'degree of homosexuality'. "I feel that this advertisement is incredibly small minded and offensive," said one complainant. "It is my opinion that to advertise a product using the claim that homosexuality can be simply measured by the hatred they show for other homosexuals is unacceptable." The ASA has upheld the complaints, saying the billboard "was likely to cause serious offence or widespread offence in the light of generally prevailing community standards. "The Complaints Board was also of the view that the advertisement was socially irresponsible, and did not observe a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society, and accordingly ruled that the advertisement was in breach of Basic Principle 4 of the Code of Ethics." The advertiser has since apologised to anyone in the LGBT community who was offended by the billboard, but stated that the billboard's intention was to "stimulate debate and awareness around the reality that some of the anti-gay rhetoric is generated by people struggling to come to terms with their own sexuality."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Friday, 19th February 2010 - 4:03pm