It's not a lie if it disses gay people. Ask The Palmetto Scoop.

The State, persistently behind the curve on the South Carolina Is So Gay story, plays catchup:

S.C. official arranged ‘so gay’ tour

Tourism employee, now resigned, set up travel writer’s 3-day visit to state

By JOHN O’CONNOR - joconnor@thestate.com

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So unhappy

A look at the “South Carolina is so gay” ad campaign:

$4,942 — Amount the state refused to pay for the campaign, which included posters hung in London subway stops during gay pride events

$16 billion — Amount visitors spend in South Carolina each year

$40 billion — Amount gay tourists spent worldwide in 2006, according to the Travel Industry Association

48 and 47 — Percentages of gay men and lesbians, respectively, who said knowing a destination was gay-friendly was important in making their travel decisions, according to a survey by Witeck-Combes Communications

A South Carolina tourism official set up a three-day tour of the state to try to win inclusion in a London ad campaign to attract gay tourists.

The campaign — calling the state “so gay” as a destination — was pulled by Gov. Mark Sanford and tourism officials after it was discussed on a political blog. The state also refused to pay the $4,942 cost of the campaign.

Andrew Roberts, the chief executive of the tour company that touted the state as a gay destination, said he toured the state because he initially was skeptical about how welcoming South Carolina would be toward gay tourists. To find out, Roberts said he met with local tourism officials in Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Hilton Head in April.

South Carolina “was not an obvious destination” for international gay tourists, Roberts told the Q-Notes Web site, saying he needed to visit the state himself.

The State newspaper’s efforts to reach Roberts for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Marion Edmonds, a spokesman for the state tourism department, confirmed Roberts’ visit. He said it was arranged by the same state tourism employee who signed off on the ad campaign. Neither the ad campaign nor the trip was reviewed by state tourism agency executives. The employee has resigned.

No state money was used, Edmonds said, adding that hotels donated Roberts’ accommodations. State tourism officials often connect local officials with potential clients, he said.

“At the local level, they sort of know who would be interested,” Edmonds said. “None of that is unusual. Those kinds of things occur all the time.”

Critics of the state’s decision to reject the ad campaign say it closely mirrors strategies included in the state tourism agency’s official marketing plan. Those goals include “direct sales programs to targeted markets to extend awareness of South Carolina’s diverse travel product” and “implement cooperative sales, advertising and marketing opportunities with tour operators (who) will create, promote and sell South Carolina specific programs.”

“It ticks all the boxes ... and we have this ridiculous reaction,” said Ian Johnson, chief executive of Out Now Consulting, which created the “so gay” ad campaign.

“He was doing his job,” Johnson said of the state tourism employee who resigned, calling the departure “a shame.”

Roberts and Johnson disputed state officials’ earlier statements that the campaign was approved only by a “low-level” employee. Roberts said the now-resigned state tourism employee was a mid-level official with experience in international advertising.

Sanford and state tourism director Chad Prosser both have said the state should not be spending tourism money to promote social or political causes.

Edmonds said the campaign still must be reviewed by supervisors. The agency, he said, is changing the way it approves international advertising.

“That needs to be checked and vetted,” Edmonds said of any campaign. “That’s part of the problem here.”

Edmonds said the agency was reviewing e-mails and other documents to see who knew about the campaign prior to its start.

The dispute could have an impact on the state’s top industry.

According to Travel Industry of America statistics, gay tourists spent $40 billion on travel in 2006. Asurvey found about half said that whether a destination was gay-friendly affected their travel plans.

Reach O’Connor at (803) 771-8358.

From London, Ian Johnson, who worked on the campaign, says The State is drinking Governor Sanford's Kool-Aid. But given Brad Warthen's views of South Carolina's gay citizens can it be nay surprise that the paper wants to demonize someone- anyone?:

I would be not telling you the truth if I said your article today accurately captured what has actually occurred here.

To me, the "issue" is not that the now resigned employee sanctioned the visit to SC in April of the CEO of our client Amro Worldwide. He was doing what his boss -- Chad Prosser -- had required him to do. As per his job description, and the strategies set down in the official Marketing Plan for SC for 2007/08.

To me, the story was that your elected officials, from the Governor down, all last week were lying in calling the employee a "low level" decision maker.

This person was the International Sales Manager.

They fired him for doing his job. For following printed policy.

If I lived in your State, the story to me would really be that SC officials -- elected and appointed -- lied to the public all through last week.

A "low level" employee?

A simple lie. It's on the record. You can Google the words right out of their mouth.