Monday 23 June 2008

Gay excuse for a pic

I like Molly. We've never met, but we like each other.

During the Council election, she was one of the many CairnsBlog eyes out there.

It was Molly that, around 11pm on a Sunday night in February, sent me an email with the amazing Kathy Plath election leaflet. Ever since then, she's flicked me some real gems.

So it seems Molly had her gaydar operating when she opened up her copy of last Thursday's Cairns Post.

On the letter's page, the feature spot was given to Danny Betros of Redlynch, for his take on the tourism scene. 'It's not all about the CBD,' he says. I agree. It's an acute observation, and one I subscribe to. I mean, you don't visit a region for the city CBD when you travel. Well, I don't. I go for the landscape, the people, the food, the exploring.

However, what was interesting about this letter, was not so much what Danny had written, but what the Cairns Post decided to illustrate his opinion with.

I doubt that Danny submitted the photo that appears alongside his letter.

Ian Byford of Lake Placid, editor of the Pink Guide for many years, supplied me copy of his 2002 edition over the weekend. You'll see that the photo was taken for the gay market by Tourism Queensland around eight years ago.

John and Wayne, who were in the photo shoot, confirmed that it was taken at Buchans Beach, just north of Palm Cove, not at Ellis Beach, as the Cairns Post captioned. Buchans is a popular nude beach. (I dunno why they're all wearing swimmers then!)

"You can see that rocky outcrop on the right, that's Buchans alright!," Wayne told CairnsBlog. "And no, we were not tourists, like the paper printed last week, we're all locals. It was to promote more gay and lesbian visitors to the region."

While Wayne was flattered that the Cairns Post, had used the photo, he was concerned that no reference was made to the actual reality of the image.

"It's the Post being lazy again," he reckons. "I mean to say, we're lying on a large rainbow flag, that should have given it away!" he said.

Interestingly, the Cairns Post uses this same photograph to head their gay page of their website.

As a side note, the crowd that took over the Pink Guide in 2007, turned it into nothing more than an advertising vehicle. They say that 'It would be a lonely planet without us.' Oh, please. Get me a bucket. This is the worst attempt at self-promo marketing I've ever seen.

It's predecessor publication, used to be a hive of local info and tips for the traveller. Byford worked hard with the local Cairns and Port Douglas communities for years to produce a guide that was not only useful, but would attract more visitors to the area.

Looks like everyone's having a gay ol time.

2 comments:

Melody said...

That is hilarious! You've got me smiling on this dreary looking morning...

Anonymous said...

In regards to the crowd that took over the Pink Guide your comments certainly warrant a rebuttal...unfortunately for Tropical North Queensland we seem to court SOQ's (Sad Old Queens) and in particular half assed journalist's with a chip on their shoulder...Ian is held in the highest regard in our community and his work is legendary and has now spread to every state in the country and every nation globally...the Pink Guide lives on and now works with every tourism board in country to ensure that Australia is identified as a 'gay welcoming' destination...SOQ's like you just need to get a life!! You mention: "This is the worst attempt at self-promo marketing I've ever seen."...well this blog matches that without fail and as for a bucket, maybe try taking it off your head for a change, there is a beautiful world out here to experience...loves from NASOQ (Not A Sad Old Queen) xo