Boy, this is the scandal that won't die!

Recently released emails reveal that South Carolina's Tourism honcho, Chad Prosser, explicitly requested the controversial "So Gay" adverts stay up in London.

Once the scandal broke, however, Prosser and his colleagues told the press they were unaware of the campaign and, once made aware, tried to put a stop to it. That story's a little shaky:

After the posters were put on London subway walls, state tourism officials heard about them. [And] Prosser said the state would not pay the nearly $5,000 for its share of the campaign, saying he doesn’t think it’s appropriate to use state tourism marketing funds to support any specific social agenda.

But PRT emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that, on July 3, Prosser told his staff the state would take part in the campaign. The email to London says, “Per Chad’s direction as of 4:40 p.m. today, (July 3) DO NOT ask the vendor to remove South Carolina from the campaign.”

The story broke on July 11th, at which point lawmakers had already squashed the campaign.

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Finally - some closure in South Carolina's "So Gay" advert scandal.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, we all now have an inside view as to what went down after the State's tourism officials first heard of the controversial ad, which had been designed and distributed in London:

When an ad campaign appeared in the London Underground promoting South Carolina as a "So Gay" destination for gay and lesbian tourists, the spokesman for the state's tourism agency shared his unease with a colleague.

"I'm praying this little story doesn't jump the pond, especially as the later summer slow news cycle sets in," Marion Edmonds wrote in a July 3 e-mail. "Let's hope that doesn't get picked up by some SC tourist and brought back. It would be a classic case of a picture doing the damage of a thousand words."

Edmonds' prayer was not answered. The story broke in early July in the blogosphere, and then moved into mainstream news reports.

A pile of e-mail printouts at the South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department illustrates the agency's confused response to the ads—which apparently were approved by a lone employee who may not have even looked at them—and the media storm that followed.

Freedom of Information requests yielded a four-inch stack of e-mail and documents dating to 2004.

The documents also reveal the ad agency's philosophy - reclaiming "so gay" to bolster the state's image as an inclusive vacation destination. The scandal, which caused the approving South Carolina employee to resign, ended up tarnishing the state's image.

South Carolina's "So Gay" ad scandal continues to stink.

State tourism officials claim the ad, which they refused to fund, was approved by a "low-level employee." Advertising agents in the know, however, tell a very different tale:

Pursuing a deal to advertise South Carolina as “so gay,” tourism officials in the state hosted a visit to showcase gay-friendly hotels, bars, and beaches, two European executives told Q-Notes.

“A three-day visit was arranged for me,” said Andrew Roberts, CEO of the gay travel agency Amro Worldwide. The visit included free hotel stays and escorting by tourism representatives, at least one of whom was reimbursed for mileage.

Impressed by what he experienced during his April trip, Roberts gave the go-ahead to Out Now Consulting, the gay marketing agency selected to execute the ads.

South Carolina’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) initiated and approved the campaign at every step, according to Roberts and Out Now CEO Ian Johnson.

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Here are two of 23/6's suggestions for South Carolina's "So Gay" ad campaign, which gay group SC Pride will fund. The Tourism bureau, you'll recall, originally squashed the ad, but SC Pride raised the money on their own.

Governor Mark Sanford was a particularly vocal opponent of the campaign, so we bet he won't be laughing at these mock-ups. We are, though.

South Carolina's tourism board continues to reel from last week's decision not to join a pro-homo ad campaign.

At least one tourism employee resigned in the wake of the brouhaha, which began after an unidentified employee gave an international "so gay" campaign the green light - a move that had not been approved by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. While some lawmakers remain furious at the Department, others are wondering if the board made the right move:

Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, a Democrat, said he has not seen the ad. But he said reaching out to gay and lesbian travelers is good business.

“How you do an advertising campaign in good taste, you can debate. I would leave that to others,” he said. “But we are in a global economy, and you should treat diversity as a strength. Diversity is a good thing.”

The city recently approved $10,000 in hospitality taxes for the Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement and $15,000 in community promotions money for the Gay & Lesbian Advocacy Movement.

Greenville Senator David Thomas, meanwhile, wants a full audit of the Department.

South Carolina's gay no more. Well, their tourism board isn't, anyway.

Hoping to profit on the pink dollar, an eager beaver state tourism agent signed up with London-based Amro Worldwide to market the Palmetto State to the gays. South Carolina would have joined London, Atlanta, New Orleans and a host of other cities in the "So Gay" campaign.

The deal would require the state to pay $1.4 million, as well as cost about $5,000 from the tourism agency.

Conservative politicians were displeased, to say the least, and squashed the plan…

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The good people of Irmo, South Carolina aren't total dolts. Well, not all of them.

The sleepy town first appeared on our radar when Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker announced he would resign after the school approved a gay-straight alliance. Walker claimed the decision violated his religious beliefs. The rest of the school distract soon found itself inflamed and set out to vote on whether they should stop the gay invasion by shutting down all clubs. And, after a bit of a delay, they finally voted:

[The] school district has voted to allow all student clubs rather than risk a lawsuit by banning a gay-friendly student organization.

But another part of the policy approved Monday night by the Lexington-Richland School District 5 school board gives parents the option of not letting their minor children participate in any school club.

Another provision prohibits student clubs from discussing sexually explicit topics in keeping with the district’s abstinence-based curriculum.

That's a pretty prudent win, although we totally feel bad for the kid with the overbearing 'rents.

On another note - OMG, look at that cat! She's a cheerleader! Now that's what we call a good morning!

We're not sure if you've heard, but college can get expensive. Thus, it should come as no surprise to hear that thousands of high school graduates opt out of higher education to focus on stuffing their coffers for future academic endeavors. Hoping to stem the trend among homos, North Carolina gay couple Tim and Neil Griffin founded the Griffin Scholarship, $2500 awarded to two Carolinian gay students annually.

Though PFLAG and other organizations have been doing similar scholarships for years, but Tim Griffin says more must be done, particularly because of discrimination among particular institutions:

There are kids out there who can't get access to military scholarships, or church scholarships, or even the financial support of their family, because they have come out as gay. I want these kids to understand that there are people who want to help, even when other organizations turn them away.

Two kids will benefit each year, and this year the prize went to Juan Vazquez and Azze Waldron, who are psyched to attend school this fall. Whether they'll be so enthusiastic after the scholarly madness begins remains to be seen…

A South Carolina school district gets an "A" in bad education. First we have cry baby Eddie Walker, who resigned as Irmo High School's principal over a Gay-Straight Alliance, and now the bad blood has spread to the rest of the school district. And the protest is so overzealous, even evil Viola Swamp would be ashamed:

Rather than risk a lawsuit by banning a gay student organization, a South Carolina school district is considering whether to ban all student clubs that don't relate to academics or sports.

The Lexington-Richland School District 5 school board plans to vote Monday night on whether the district should ban the clubs as a way to shut down a proposed group called the Gay-Straight Alliance.

A school spokeswoman says the district couldn't stop the alliance from forming because federal law prohibits discriminating against a club based on its purpose.

Way to set an example, folks!

Rasmussen Reports got a head start on Carolina polling frenzy. The website has posted pre-primary numbers. Here are the Democratic digits:

Barack Obama has regained a double-digit lead over Hillary Clinton in South Carolina’s Democratic Presidential Primary.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in South Carolina shows Obama earning 44% of the vote, Clinton attracting 31%, and John Edwards at 15%.

John McCain and Mike Huckabee seem to be tied with 24% of the vote, while Romney trails with 18% of Republicans.

The state's primaries will take place on January 26th.

John Edwards got some good news today. Q-Notes - the "leading gay news source of the Carolinas" - decided to endorse the controversially coiffed candidate. From Out For Edwards:

After a series of meetings between the editors, the staff and the publisher, Q-Notes has endorsed John Edwards for President. His concrete, progressive policy positions (including steadfast support for pro-LGBT issues), his commitment to returning power to the people from moneyed special interests, his outstanding polling strength against the Republicans and his positive impact for down-ticket candidates nationwide combine to make him the best candidate in the race.

Q-Notes encourages all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters to support John Edwards in the primaries and beyond.

We're not sure we're going to take you up on that offer, Q-Notes. We're still undecided, but rest assured we'll be taking a stand soon enough.

South Carolina sheriff's investigator Paul Silvaggio testified last week that Stephen Andrew Moller did not attack Sean Kennedy because he was gay.

Through an extensive investigation I found that the defendant did not strike the victim because he was a homosexual. It was only later that he knew the victim was a homosexual.

Kennedy died in May after Moller punched him and Kennedy fell to the ground, sustaining fatal injuries. Moller's set to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, but has been released on $25,000 bond. He's currently living with his mother.

Kennedy's activist mother, Elke, still describes the crime as murder, but refuses to wallow in despair. She's set up a foundation to raise awareness about South Carolina's impotent hate crime laws. Go mama!

• Our celeb-obsessed cousin Mollygood used the above image to represent the parodic Ann Coulter video. It's the most fitting depiction of Coulter we've seen since - well, ever!

• 100 sexy men in one minute.

• It's school board versus principal in gay t-shirt scandal.

• Speaking of gay t-shirts: cement your gay geekdom with some Dumbledore Pride gear!

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