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Cities come out about wooing gays — and their dollars

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-07-gays-usat_x.htm

Posted 12/8/2003 9:39 AM Updated 12/8/2003 10:05 AM












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Cities come out about wooing gays — and their dollars
By Deborah Sharp, USA TODAY
FORT LAUDERDALE — When civic leaders rolled out the rainbow carpet here almost a decade ago, Fort Lauderdale was nearly alone among destinations in trying to woo gay and lesbian travelers.

An ad for the city of Philadelphia features Jeff Fabiano, left, Tony Riley and the Liberty Bell.
Greater Philadelphia Marketing Corp.

But that was before the Supreme Court lifted a Texas ban on sodomy, Massachusetts moved toward same-sex marriages, and manly guys embraced moisturizer on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

A growing number of cities are following Fort Lauderdale in flaunting a gay-friendly image. Among them are long-established gay destinations such as Key West. But there are less likely spots, too:

• Bloomington, Ind., capitalized on its existing slogan, "Come Out and Play," by adding the rainbow colors that symbolize gay pride.

• New Haven, Conn., touts concerts by the state's Gay Men's Chorus in a brochure titled "Your Alternative Getaway."

• Philadelphia showcases its "gayborhood" and runs ads with Ben Franklin flying a rainbow kite.

And this spring, the "City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Attraction" will break ground among U.S. travel spots by becoming the first to launch gay-specific TV commercials.

"The world is changing," says Tom Roth, president of Community Marketing, a firm based in San Francisco. The company specializes in research into the $54-billion-a-year gay travel market, estimated to be 10% of the overall market.

Not everyone is happy with the changes. Religious conservatives have turned the Massachusetts Supreme Court's backing of gay marriage into a rallying cry. Those who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds see cities' ads enticing gay travelers — and their dollars — as a death knell for a moral society.

"They're worshiping at the altar of money, and they couldn't care less what God might think, or how it might impact children," says Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. "They promote homosexuality as if it's harmless. And that is not the case."

In Philadelphia, where the $300,000-per-year campaign to boost gay tourism has generated media coverage, officials say positive response has outweighed negative. Most of the money for the campaign comes from the area's hotel taxes. Meryl Levitz, president of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., says she received flowers and telephone calls from gays thrilled by the inclusion.

"Philadelphia stands for liberty and justice for all. We welcome everybody," Levitz says.

Greater Philadelphia's annual $5 million advertising budget includes significant amounts for other niche travelers, such as $600,000 a year to draw African-Americans. When ads targeting black visitors began in 1997, they represented only 14% of 11 million visitors a year. By 2000, the share had jumped to 25%.

Big cultural changes

A lot has changed since comic Ellen DeGeneres made headlines by revealing her homosexuality on her TV sit-com — and in real life — in 1997. About 20 television shows now include gay themes or characters.

In addition to the Massachusetts ruling last month, there are other recent milestones: In June, the high court's ruling in the Texas case effectively legalized gay sex nationwide. Last month, the Episcopal Church installed its first openly gay bishop. And Queer Eye is such a hit that NBC-owned Bravo just announced that Gal Pals will join the show on next fall's line-up. In it, fashion-challenged straight women will get the same gay-inspired makeovers as their heterosexual brethren.

Cultural observers — both approving and disapproving — link the popularity of gay characters in the media with the comfort level many Americans now feel toward lesbians and gay men. There aren't too many degrees of separation between affection for Grace's gay pal, Will, on TV, and shrugging at "Where More Than Just the Cherry Blossoms Come Out," Washington, D.C.'s new gay-themed ad slogan.

"The effect of television is huge," says John Collette, 37, vacationing in Fort Lauderdale with his partner, Martin Gottlieb. "Let's face it. We're a TV society."

Though Philadelphia's TV venture is new, about a dozen U.S. destinations have jumped with Fort Lauderdale into advertising to gays and lesbians. Others include Miami, Minneapolis, San Diego, Portland, Ore., and Palm Springs, Calif. Some cities —including Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago — are weighing how to shape gay-friendly campaigns, according to Roth, the market researcher.

The trend is by no means universal: Tourism boards for many cities — even some with substantial gay populations — make no mention of gay and lesbian links on their official Web sites.

In conservative Pensacola, Fla., which strongly markets itself as a family destination, there is no mention on its visitor Web site of an active gay culture or an annual event that brings 60,000 gay and lesbian travelers to the area each Memorial Day. In Laguna Beach, Calif., a popular getaway for gays and lesbians, officials say money issues keep them from specifically advertising to that community.

"You can't go into niche marketing when you have a small budget. You have to keep it broad," says Kathleen Spalione, executive director of the Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau. "It's nothing intentional."

Daniel Wardlow, a marketing professor at San Francisco State University, says tourist boards may advertise discreetly to gays and lesbians through the mainstream media — by including same-sex couples in visual images or by emphasizing that everyone is welcome.

"Certainly some tourism promotion boards would avoid promoting directly to gays and lesbians if there is reason to fear a local political backlash," he says.

Expanding market

Philadelphia's TV campaign "pushes the envelope," says Michael Wilke, executive director of Commercial Closet. The New York-based firm tracks gay-themed advertising.

Because TV is expensive and gays represent only 10% of the market at most, most such advertising is placed in the gay and lesbian press. One notable exception: a commercial for online travel service Orbitz, which made headlines when it aired last summer.

Reliable statistics on the numbers of gays and lesbians in the USA are hard to come by. The Census Bureau doesn't ask about sexual orientation but did count 1.2 million people in 2000 who reported living together as same-sex partners. Some gay rights advocates and researchers say gays and lesbians represent 10% of the adult population, or about 20 million people. More conservative researchers say the proportion is closer to 5%.

At the Royal Palms in Fort Lauderdale — with its 1,000 orchid plants, "10-man" whirlpool spa and lavender-scented face towels — the mostly male guests are pampered. When Richard Gray opened the 12-unit retreat in 1991 off Fort Lauderdale beach, his was the only gay guesthouse in the city. Now there are 30.

Gray urged Fort Lauderdale's convention and visitors bureau to begin gay-specific advertising in 1995. The first year's ad budget — $20,000 — has increased ten-fold. This year, 660,000 gays and lesbians will visit the area. Their economic impact: $600 million — or about 12% of a total $5.2 billion attributed to local tourism.

"The bottom line in any business is what's being spent," says Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale visitors bureau. "You can't ignore the kind of spending that gay and lesbian travelers do."

By the pool at the Royal Palms, where winter-season rooms top out at $319-a-night, the comfort level is high. Swimsuits are optional. Guests say knowing that a city actively courts gays and lesbians can be a factor in where they plan to travel.

"It's the difference," Collette says, "in being tolerated and being embraced."