Memo to Omaha Chamber of Commerce: how places which are not Omaha promote tourism by acknowledging their gay visitors

Some years ago, an Omaha visitor called the Chamber of Commerce to try to find out if there were any gay clubs in town. The organization was unable to identify any, even though the downtown Chamber offices are within three blocks of two gay bars, including one of the biggest gay discotheques in the Midwest. In fact the land on which the downtown Chamber of Commerce was built used to be the site of one of Omaha's more popular (for a while) gay clubs, The Hollywood.
     The Chamber lobbied against Omaha's recently-enacted LGBT antibias ordinance, until the organization's younger professionals revolted against Chamber president David Brown's interference.
      During councilman Ben Gray's second, successful attempt to pass the law, Chamber officials reluctantly changed their posititon — to neutrality but not support.





The official U.S. Tourism ad aired in other countries to promote visits to the U.S.A. is also gay-inclusive (at the 1:14 mark below, but don't blink or you'll miss it.) However, even that brief acknowledgement was too much for the serial liars at the Family Research Council, who said this about the ad (starring Roseanne Cash!):

When Congress passed the Travel Promotion Act, people thought it'd be a great chance to highlight American attractions. What they didn't know is that it would highlight same-sex attractions. That's right. The commercial invites people to America-not to see the Grand Canyon, but to celebrate homosexuality.

Tony Perkins, left, of the Family Research Council and Dave
Bydalek, of Nebraska's Family First, which describes itself as
"associated" with the FRC, an SPLA-designated hate group

     Cultural warrior conman Tony Perkins tried to sell the idea that a 1-2 second nod toward the existence of millions of gay people in the USA is an invitation to "celebrate homosexuality" and that it "highlights" same sex attractions?
    Uh, the ad is right here. Watch it and judge for yourself the extent of Tony Perkins' dishonesty.
     Perkins and his Family Research Council right wing pressure organization are the national associates of Nebraska's Family First, headed by Dave Bydalek, who, earlier this year, tried to run a little antigay con of his own — attempting to trick the Nebraska Judiciary Committee with testimony quoting the widely-discredited Regnerus Study.
     Even though Committee Chairman Brad Ashford was obviously unfamiliar with the study, his innate common sense smelled a rat and he didn't buy it. Hit the link in the previous paragraph to see his reaction to Bydalek's snake oil salesmanship.