We actually love AdWeek’s listicle of “The 50 Gayest Ads Ever” for assembling such an extensive collection of international ad clips in one handy location. Yeah, the ads feature lots of misogynist lesbo-tittilation and gay gross-out punchlines, but they also feature bisexuals, advocacy PSAs, and ads that challenge gay stereotypes. Sadly the list has almost no trans-inclusion, which surprises us—especially since Argentina’s Banco Provincia made such a lovely ad in 2007 about overcoming biases and treating people with respect.
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AdWeek’s 50 Gayest Ads Article Leaves Out Our Favorite Trans Spot
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Danielle
Oh, you didn’t know? Because of the ideology of throwing trans people under the bus and forgetting about us, the media is more familiar with “gay and lesbian” than they are “transgender”. As we often lament, “Yea, people, we are the ‘silent T’ of the acronym.” It’s sad and infuriating… but it’s the truth.
Congratulations to Banco Provincia for that lovely, heartwarming ad. I cry every time I see it. One day, all trans people will reach that point with the public… one day…
David Griner
Hey guys, I wrote the Gayest Ads wrapup for Adweek, and I really appreciate the feedback. Probably should have clarified better that we opted to focus on specific gay and lesbian themes and omit the (many) cross-dressing/trans spots out there, because they are usually abysmally stereotypical and homophobic, which isn’t the kind of work we wanted to feature. Moreover, I didn’t necessarily want to give credence to the idea that showing someone cross-dressing is the same as calling them gay.
Anyway, I know that’s not a perfect answer, and I do feel sorry if anyone feels omitted. That said, there’s probably plenty of room for another list specific to trans ads. Still plenty of room for improvement in that sector of advertising, for sure.
Kamuriie
Really tired of this kind of “b-b-b-but trans people are left out!” horse manure. Sometimes it’s relevant, but a lot of times it isn’t.
Transpeople can be straight, bisexual, asexual, gay, just like anyone else can be. Anything related to transpeople is not automatically “gay-related,” and a list that says “these are the best gay (x)” which does not include transgender (x) is not a flawed list because it doesn’t have transgender issues any more than it’s flawed because it doesn’t have rollerblading issues, autism issues, etc.
Transgenderism isn’t a sexuality.
jason
David Griner,
I was appalled by your article in Adweek. I find it to be totally counter-productive to the cause of GLBT rights. You are simply reinforcing the straight male’s viewpoint of GLBT sexuality. We in the GLBT movement are not interested in “hot lesbians” designed to titillate straight male perverts and nor are we interested in punchlines that trivialize and insult the sexuality of gay men.
I think Adweek is a homophobic publication which simply reinforces all the straight male-instigated stereotypes about our sexuality.
pithyscreenname
Its called the best gay ads – not the best LGBT ads. Maybe they will do another list.
Nice attempt to create controversy where there is none.
Pete n SFO
I DO love the Argentinian ad…
Imagine a bank pitching their inclusion & appreciation of trans-people & their business to a US audience…
Yeah, that could happen.
ps: I really loved O’s inclusion of trans in his WH press conference yesterday. When the Prez speaks thoughtfully & confidently about trans-people, it speaks volumes.
Michael
This is idiotic. Gender identity and sexual orientation are two very different things and we need to recognize that in order to make progress on either front.
This is a larger problem than just the recent posts here on Queerty — it goes straight to the heart of the LGBT movement. Simply put, there should be no LGBT — there should be LGB and T.
Lumping the two together has made it incredibly difficult to talk with straight, non-trans people about issues that separately affect LGB and T people. Perhaps the best, most basic example is having to explain the difference between LGB hate crimes legislation and trans-inclusive hate crimes legislation. Because we’ve lumped them together for so long, many people have come to look at trans as a sexuality. They see sexual orientation hate crimes legislation as being inherently inclusive of trans people, when it is not. They see being attracted to a trans person as making them “gay,” which can make them reflexively prejudiced against both gay and trans people. They do not understand that trans people can be gay or straight.
Including trans people in the LGB movement has left trans folk criminally overshadowed and they have been unable to find a way to distinguish themselves, to talk honestly with the “general public” about their lives and the challenges they face. At the same time, it has led many people to attack our LGB allies for not being more pro-trans.
Linking the two is a dangerous thing as it obscures the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation — two tops that most people are already grossly misinformed about and apprehensive to engage in serious discussion on. We need to divorce the two now.
SteveC
Agreed.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are 2 different things (although there are gay transfolk of course).
I don’t think there is any controversy here.
Laughriotgirl
I agree the Trans- Ad was really amazing. But, given David Griner’s reasoning for not including “trans/cross dressing” in the list – it’s probably better that they didn’t include trans people. Also, there is no harm in showcasing how media depicts gay men and lesbians without including trans people.
Laughriotgirl
@Michael: I generally agree with you. However, I think hate crime legislation is one of the areas where there is enough overlap between the two that it makes sense to work on it together.
Danielle
@David Griner: Nice attempt at a save. But, why call it “The Gayest Ads Ever”? Isn’t that a little counter-productive? I personally believe it is a flaw in how the article was constructed, listed, and advertised. Why not include trans people and call it “The Most Queer Ads Ever”? That ad from Argentina isn’t stereotypical nor “homophobic”. It’s sweet and sentimental while getting the point across. It’s probably even better than most pro-gay American ads!
@Kamuriie: We don’t like “transgenderism”. Please don’t use it again. However, you have a point. “Transgender” is not a sexuality and shouldn’t be treated as such.
@Michael: Let me guess… you’re a card-carrying member of the HRC, aren’t you? Figures. You’ve got their ideology down to a science.
Everyone: Look, I think it’s pretty apparent to just about every queer on the planet that trans people are fairly different than other people in the acronym. For lesbians, gays, and bisexuals, it’s all about sexuality, their tastes in who they share their bedroom with. For trans people, it’s about identity and the expression thereof. To us, that’s pretty obvious. To the laymen, not so much.
In employment, we can take an example of the flaming gay guy and the most butch of the lesbian women. To us, the fact is pretty obvious. For the laymen, though, one might speculate that the flamer puts on a dress and does drag shows on the weekend and the butch would rather be a man. This is where the world of gays and lesbians begins to blend with the trans crowd. The guy could very well be fired for being “too effeminate” and girl for being “just too much like a man”.
In hate crimes, the same could be assumed. One or two cross-dressers could be walking down the street, trying to find their car after a long night enjoying their pastime. Some guy comes along who doesn’t know the difference between a cross-dresser and a drag queen, then starts spewing that six-letter “F” word we all love so much. Any number of things could happen from there. For the transsexual, it gets a little more complicated. Mostly, the trans girl, but trans guys have been attacked, too. For now, we’ll use the girl. She’s at a club, hitting on a cute guy. They flirt and play back and forth… but she hasn’t had her surgery yet. Like a responsible transsexual, she tells him in order keep herself safe. He flips off the handle and starts beating her with the pitcher they shared beer in… again, using that six-letter word we “love” so much. Are we seeing the problem, yet?
LGB and T do not share a lot of things, but there is enough commonality between us to warrant an alliance. Why can’t we band together as an oppressed minority and work for ALL our equality?
Thrutch
Make the list, i’m sure they will post them. That was a great ad though
Mish Pony
If you are not a trans person, don’t talk about what trans people want. We can speak for ourselves thanks.