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Adshel accused of bowing to homophobia after removing safe gay sex poster

Outdoor company Adshel has been accused of homophobia after taking down a safe sex campaign poster in Brisbane.

Michael James, who features in the ads for Queensland Association of Healthy Communities, claims the outdoor company bowed to pressure from a ‘homophobic’ religious group, the Australian Christian Lobby.

In response to the removal of the posters, James set up the Facebook group titled ‘Homophobia – NOT HERE – Adshel Caves to Homophobic Pressure‘. The group urges members to contact Adshel and demand that the posters be put back up in their original location.

So far, 10,603 people have pledged their support to the group.

The backlash against Adshel has since gathered pace, with a demonstration staged outside the company’s offices in Brisbane today:

In a statement received by Mumbrella, Adshel said:

Adshel responded to a series of individual complaints to the Adshel Office, Brisbane City Council and the Advertising Standards Bureau. All complaints were made by individual members of the public; none were identified as stemming from the Australian Christian Lobby.

Adshel does not have, and never had, any dealings with the Australian Christian Lobby and has not responded to any requests from this organisation.

Adshel has a commercial relationship with Brisbane City Council and commits itself to dealing appropriately with feedback from the community regarding the style and nature of advertising. The
decision to remove the posters was made on the basis of the large number of complaints received.

Adshel does not take a position regarding the views or position of various community groups.

However, Advertising Standards Bureau CEO Fiona Jolly told Mumbrella that although complaints had been received about the ad, a decision had not been reached as to whether the ads should be taken down.

“At this stage, we don’t have any influence over whether the ads should be removed prior to the [Ad Standards] board making a decision,” she said. “At the moment, it is up to the advertiser and the media owner how they respond to complaints.”

The matter is to be reviewed by the ASB next week.

4.20pm update: Adshel has announced that it will reinstate the posters.

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