Gay Marriage Ads Causing Ruckus in DC

(MoneyWatch)  What is it about billboard advertising that gets everyone so riled up? Whether it's Israel, marijuana, atheists, healthcare, or hookers, outdoor ads seem to have a magical power that makes people think the First Amendment has been suddenly rescinded.

Case in point, Washington, D.C.:

A pro-gay marriage group was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on its demand that Washington D.C.'s bus transit system stop taking ads from an anti-gay marriage group.

The anti-marriage group had placed ads on some DC buses that said, "Let the people vote on marriage." The group, Stand 4 Marriage, wants a referendum in hopes of overturning D.C.'s recent decision to recognize gay marriage.

The ads prompted a demand from Full Equality Now DC that the ads be removed because they force gays to "stare down discrimination as they board the bus ... We do not deserve to face this message when we ride the bus," the group wrote to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager John B. Catoe Jr., according to the Washington Post.

After a brief lesson in civics -- i.e. that depriving groups with whom you disagree of their First Amendment rights is not smart -- FENDC posted a reversal of the demand on their web page:

The letter to WMATA previously posted on our website was a draft letter that has had several revisions over the past week and has yet to be finalized....

Uh, right. Never mind then, etc., etc.

Image via GaySocialites.com