Brian Edwards and Tom Privitere posed happily in this photo taken at their engagement party — a moment capturing, as Edwards recalls, their “hope and love.” In late June, the couple were horrified to learn from a friend that the very same photo, doctored to remove an NYC skyline and instead depict a snowy scene, was being used in anti-gay political mailer, 2000 miles away, by “Public Advocate for the U.S.” The couple, who blogged about their wedding, are now, along with their photographer Kristina Hill taking legal action, with help from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

18 replies on “Montclair Gay Couple’s Engagement Photo Turns Up In Anti-Gay Mailer”

  1. It figures that the ‘phobes are too sleazy and too dumb to shoot their own publicity (anti-publicity?) shots and that if they steal someone else’s stuff they’ll eventually be found out. Oh, well, make ’em pay, that’s what I say!

    Most homophobes are stupid people (but most stupid people aren ‘t homophobic, for whatever that’s worth).

  3. It is terrible that they used this photo for such deceiving purposes.

    I would really like to hear from a Copyright Lawyer on if this falls under the “Fair Use Doctrine” Can B’Net do a follow up and consult an independent Copyright Lawyer?

    From what I understand the law is very quirky and using partial/portions of copyrighted images is usually allowed under 17 USC Section 107.

  4. As I see it, they’ve hoisted themselves on their own petard. Let their constituents see what down and dirty bastards they are. I hope they get the pants sued off of them.

  5. I can neither confirm nor deny that when my photos were used by others for personal or financial gain without my permission that a legal matter followed shortly thereafter.

    Did I mention that I went on one of those Viking Cruises that are advertised on Masterpiece?

    But I cannot confirm nor deny the photo incident.

    Good luck to the couple and their photographer.

  7. This is sickening. That this couple has to have their moment marred in such a despicable way is not only offensive, I hope it’s criminal. Though I suspect these creeps would just love to have the added publicity of a lawsuit.

    To Brian and Tom, yours is a great picture that shows your love!! I wish you many happy years together!!

  8. I’ll grant that this is despicable. Sure, of course it is. But any perusal of the ads from the national and local media alike shown weekly in Advertising Age suggests it may in fact be legal. Anyway, at least quasi-legal.

    Has Baristanet actually contacted “State Senator Jean White” for comment? Seems a logical thing to do. The first thing to do before tossing this item out on this site for the usual round of uninformed/hazily thought-out comments, in fact. (Courson, you were reliably prompt on this one.)

    If true, I do not, however, much care for the involvement of the Southern Poverty Law Center in this one. Morris Dees should really have much, much better things to do, since involvement in a case like this is a far ways from his group’s supposed mandated mission.

  9. Without having watched the original report on the tube, too, I have no idea how this all went down. But the post above says this scuzzy usage was noticed in late June, and here it is mid-July. Anyone have any explanation for this?

  13. Note to Cathar:

    1. It’s not up to you to “grant” anything to anybody. No-one asked you.
    2. That’s “Dr. Courson” to you, your excellency!

    3. We agree for once, “State Senator Jean White” should be contacted:
    but I think its even more appropriate to contact Eugene DelGaudio, of the generously self-named organization “Public Advocate of the United States,” the hate group that is responsible for the photograph’s misuse: you can call Eugene at 703-845-1808. Or better yet, visit or mail him at 5613 Leesburg Pike, Suite 17, Falls Church, VA 22041.

    You can also visit their website at http://www.publicadvocateusa.org and try not to gag.

  15. Oh Courson, dear reliably crusty coot-like Courson, I am struck to the quick by your comments.

    But I will continue to urge caution responding to any and every “news item” on this site anyway. Some months ago, for example, posters imagined a horde of Klansmen hiding in the woods round the Montclair State campus as a result of some racist-seeming graffiti. When this happened, I remained skeptical, and for my skepticism was pilloried (as per usual) on this site. Yet as it turned out, eventually it was announced that the original student who’d called in the graffiti was in fact guilty of creating it. This incident, if nothing else, helped me understand how Milovan Djilas must have felt back in Commie rat Yugoslavia back in the 50’s for his own skepticism about the system he then worked for.

    (Interestingly, too, after it was announced that it was a Montclair State student rather than a passing Kleagle or gauleiter who’d been responsible, this site offered no follow-up on the matter, despite the willingness of so many posters here to opine sympathetically when the original cry of “racism” was raised. Perhaps now that Debbie will be up at Montclair State, she can ferret out the truth about how this matter of rabidly rushing to political judgment was received in the hyper-local groves of academe. In any event, going by the posts here back then, this was not a proud moment for Baristanet in general.)

  16. And if you’re a “Doctor,” Courson, of anything, I can only imagine that the diploma mills are in deep trouble indeed these days. Even places like Trump University. You surely hold no chair in either philosophy or political science, I’m positive.

  18. Hey Bill, what is KMA? When I googled it, this is what I got:

    Kuwait Medical Association
    Korean Academy of Medical Sciences
    Known Medical Allergies
    Kentucky Medical Association
    Key Management Algorithm
    Korea Meteorological Administration

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