After almost a year of anti-gay propaganda from American Family Association and assorted other homophobes, the Eureka Springs gay community is asserting itself in print and on-line.

While the AFA has done a fine job of advertising the city's gay charms--including the only Domestic Partnership Registry in Arkansas--it needed a little help reaching our target market--gay and lesbian travelers.

What began in December as an effort to persuade regional gay magazines to publish travel stories about Eureka Springs has produced substantial dividends:

Love Notes From the Lone Star State

• In mid May, Houston's OutSmart magazine declared our mountain mecca a must-see for gay Texans.

«With all it has to offer the LGBT traveler,» Bradley David Williams wrote, «Eureka Springs should be considered on par with Key West, Provincetown and Palm Springs as a gay vacation destination.»

Here's the link to OutSmart's on-line version of the story: outsmartmagazine.com

In a precedent-setting show of solidarity, at least two dozen gay and gay-friendly businesses--retail shops, restaurants, B&Bs and bars--contributed advertising--thanks in large measure due to the hard work of Fusion Squared co-owner John Jarrett and Alvin Byrd from A Byrd's Eye View. Byrd also managed to convince the City Advertising and Promotion Commission to advertise for the first time in a gay publication.

Eureka Springs Mayor Dani Joy, acknowledging the importance of such locally-based tourist initiatives, attended a reception at Marquee's restaurant May 14 to mark the publication of OutSmart's travel story.

Sadly, although invited, no members of the Eureka Springs City Council showed up--thus continuing their year-long silence about anything having to do with the Domestic Partnership Registry, Diversity Weekends, gay tourism or the bashing of the town by the AFA.

Don't Hush Sweet Charlotte

• Later in May, Charlotte, North Carolina's Q-Notes featured a travel piece about gay Eureka Springs-- thanks to the effort's of Diversity Pride's Deborah Rose--noting that the town «Welcomes LGBT travelers with open arms.»

«What impressed me most,» Lainey Millen wrote, «was learning that about 35 percent of the residents are LGBT and there are 60 gay-owned businesses here . . . It is not odd to see same-sex couples walking down the street hand-in-hand or even kiss. Locals don't blink an eye. The LGBT and straight communities commingle and socialize together.»

Here's the link to the on-line version: www.q-notes.com

San Francisco of the South

• Even the mainstream press is taking note of the similarities between Eureka Springs and the capital of Gaymerica. «Eureka! Ozarks Meets San Francisco,» said the Miami Herald just a few days ago. «Another . . . magnet for gay Midwesterners . . . the town is a pocket of diversity and acceptance,» the New York Times has said. Even the San Francisco Chronicle sees Eureka Springs as « . . . a remarkable microcosm of San Francisco.»

So, as it turns out, the American Family Association was not far off the mark when in January it deemed Eureka Springs «the San Francisco of Arkansas» in it's vile video entitled «They're Coming to Your Town.» In case that reference was too vague, the AFA also awarded the town the titles of «gay hot spot» and «national hub for homosexuals.»

Naturally, as a result, LGBT travelers across the nation are now checking us out.

Gaily Forward

• In June, Kansas City's LGBT magazine Verge will publish a 10-page travel spread on Eureka Springs--again as a result of local marketing efforts--in its annual Pride issue. There are about 175,000 to 200,000 gays and lesbians in Kansas City. Presumably, some of them (along with their non-gay friends and families) will want to vacation in Eureka after reading the story. The issue will also include at least two pages of advertising from local businesses and yet another ad from the Eureka Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission.

NOTE: The ad deadline for Verge's June Pride issue has been extended to June 6. Contact John Jarrett at Fusion Squared (253-4999), Alvin Byrd at A Byrd's Eye View (253-0200) or the magazine: www.vergekc.com. As a favor to Eureka Springs, the magazine is offering half-off rates for half- and full-page ads.

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