Miller Beer to Sponsor Homosexual 'Folsom Street Fair'?

By Tim Waggoner
9/22/2008
LifeSiteNews (www.lifesitenews.com)

Reports are that Miller is once again throwing its full support behind the sexually explicit Folsom Street event in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO (LifeSitNews.com) - Last year, after horrified Americans bombarded the beer company with complaints, decision makers at the Miller Brewing Company chose to pull the company logo from an offensive advertisement for the Folsom Street Fair, an event which includes full nudity and public sadomasochistic sex acts. Miller, however, has now flip-flopped on their decision and is once again endorsing the homosexual event, having paid for a full-page advertisement in the 2008 Folsom Street Fair Program Guide.

The brewers landed themselves in hot water last Fall after their logo appeared on the highly controversial front page of the 2007 program guide. The cover photograph was an obvious reenactment of Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Last Supper" painting, except with 13 scantily, leather clad men and women representing Christ and the apostles seated around a table cluttered with sex toys - two of which took the place of the bread and wine.

A nationwide boycott of Miller ensued. In response Miller released a statement of apology and had their logo removed from the guide.

Yet Miller is once again throwing its full support behind the sexually explicit Folsom street event, during which passersby, including children, in San Francisco's streets are subjected to public sex acts, including men performing oral sex on one another, and engaging in mutual masturbation and sadomasochistic "role-playing", during which "partners" inflict and receive pain as a form of sexual pleasure. In one instance that was particularly offensive to people of religious faith, during last year's festival a female stripper was hoisted in a cage over a Roman Catholic Church during mass.

The 2008 program guide for the event, which features sadomasochistic pornographic material as well as Folsom's advocacy of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" and their sale of "religious" sex toys, also includes a Miller advertisement with heavy connotations to the nudity in the parade. It features a rainbow colored beer cap, a beer bottle with the label being stripped off, and a slogan that reads, "No label. All that matters is what's inside. We'll drink to that."

Peter LaBabera, president of Americans for Truth (AFTAH), has written a letter to Miller representatives questioning their decision to advocate the "vile and anti-Christian" street fair.

"Does MillerCoors have any ethical guidelines for events it will - or will not - promote (through ads) and participate in? Would MillerCoors sell beer and advertise at, say, an Incest Rights festival, or take out an ad in the publication of other openly bigoted gatherings such as a Neo-Nazi rally?" asked LaBarbera.

LaBarbera has already taken steps against the "depraved" event, having posted on the AFTAH website a letter from the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, that appeared in the 2008 Folsom program guide endorsing the event. This provoked Folsom attorneys to compose a letter to Americans for Truth threatening a law suit if they did not remove the mayor's written endorsement of the event from the AFTAH website.

LaBarbera responded, explaining his pro-family organization was protected under the Fair Use Doctrine and issued a statement saying, "The homosexual sadomasochists aren't exactly 'proud' of their perversions after all", and asked if Mayor Newsom and the Democrats were "embarrassed about supporting Folsom?"

He then turned to the Folsom organizers, asking, "What are you ashamed of? Certainly not mocking Christianity and public nudity and sex in the streets."The 2008 Folsom Street Fair, which marks the end of "Leather Week", is set to take place on September 28, 2008.

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1 - 8 of 8 Comments

Holly
4 years ago
Who is being descriminated against?
Educate me on this.
Troy
4 years ago
The article may be misleading, but I still won't support Miller after their flip-flop in an attempt to get more business. I do not support the 'Folsom Street Fair' and will not support a company that does. Is there a place where I can see all of the companies that supported the 'Folsom Street Fair'?
Kevin Alves
4 years ago
This article is very misleading:

1. "passersby, including children, in San Francisco's streets are subjected to public sex acts," is not correct at all. The fair is held on Folsom Street traffic is blocked from entering 2 blocks before the fair and foot traffic pays an admission to enter. There not any innocent people who got lost and stumbled upon this event. It is very clear what is going on long before you see any potentially offensive conduct.

#2 "during last year's festival a female stripper was hoisted in a cage over a Roman Catholic Church during mass" The Catholic Church being referred to has been closed since 1993. There was no mass being held at St Joseph's that day in 2007, or any other day since 1993. The statement "during mass" is a lie meant to outrage your followers. Stop lying to promote your own agenda.

#3 your title "Miller Beer to Sponsor Homosexual 'Folsom Street Fair'" is misleading in that the Folsom Street Fair is not a "homosexual" event. It is an event for "alternative" lifestyles of homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual orientation. Your calling it a homosexual event is done only to enrage and further promote hatred and misunderstanding of a group of people already discriminated against. You publish this article to shock people when it is only your article that is truly shocking.

#4 "pornographic material as well as Folsom's advocacy of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence"" this insinuates that the Sisters are pornographic, therefore must be shunned by Christians. In truth the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence do a lot of work for charitable events in San Francisco. They are devoted to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges of society. They promote human rights, diversity, and spiritual enlightenment. They believe that each and everyone has the right to express their own beauty and joy. The use irreverent wit and humor to expose bigotry, complacency and guilt. They do so much good for the people of San Francisco, for you to equate them with evil is just plain ignorant of the facts.

My comments are only meant to tell the truth about this event. In no way am I inciting violence, attacking, or purposely offending or disrespecting Catholic Online or the faithful Catholics who read this website.
Greg
4 years ago
People; go get a life.
M. E. Copas
4 years ago
Well, they're at it again. Doesn't the state of California (no, not Californication - that's a movie) have any public decency/obscenity laws? Doesn't it have anyone willing to enforce these laws?
John
4 years ago
LOL "Has miller considered the consequences and causes it will bring to US "..."second Sodom and Gomorrah"
I fail to see anything bad about it. It's really kind of funny reading these comments.
G.G.
4 years ago
DISGUSTING! SICK! OUR NATION MUST BOYCOTT MILLER AGAIN THIS YEAR. It ia our duty as loyal American Christians. God forgive those SICKOS who participate and watch the program. G.G.
Orji kenneth
4 years ago
I wonder what this world is turning into. This idea of folsom street fair is immoral and against God's law. Has miller considered the consequences and causes it will bring to US and the world at large. Is our generation second sodom and gomorah? What are the legislators and christians especially catholic doing about it? May angels and saints pray us so that God's wrath will not befall us.. Amen

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