christian grantham
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
	latest posts   'Swift Boat Vet Against Seniors' Charlie Jarvis Reporting For Duty   March 19: National Sovereignty Day in Iran   HRC Confirms Finalizing Pick For New President and CEO   President Bush's Private War Against Workplace Protections   'Swift Boat Vets Against Seniors' Caught In Lie

March 01, 2005

Should we have expected anything less from a group with such low standards in their attack on America's senior and Social Security?

Conservative front organization USA Next was accused today of illegally using a gay couple's wedding photo in an anti-gay ad campaign supporting President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.

The couple in the photo, Richard M. Raymen and Steven P. Hansen of Portland, Oregon, have come forward through an attorney to demand that USA Next stop using their image, and that the organization publicly apologize for using their image in a homophobic and libelous way. The demand, contained in a letter sent today to USA Next Chairman and CEO Charles Jarvis, references the couples' right to seek damages for the misappropriation of their image.

"In 2004, our clients allowed their picture to be taken at their public celebration, as couples getting married do every day," Christopher Wolf, a partner in the Washington, DC office of the New York-based law firm Proskauer Rose LLP and counsel for Raymen and Hansen. "They did not volunteer to be models for a 2005 right-wing hate campaign, and never would have consented to having their images plastered in an ad of any kind, much less the one USA Next chose to run. USA Next has violated the law and must take responsibility for the consequences. Tort law is quite clear that USA Next acted illegally."

"The USA Next ad communicates the false message that gay marriages generally, and our clients specifically, are the antithesis of supporting American troops during wartime," said Wolf. "Gay marriage, and our clients' ceremony, have nothing to do with support of the troops. Our clients are patriotic Americans who strongly support our service members."
['USA Next' Misappropriated Couples' Image for Anti-Gay Ad Campaign; Couple: Image Stolen for Campaign Against AARP - press release - 02-28-05]