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(Washington) A gay couple from Portland, Oregon whose wedding picture was illegally used in an ad by a conservative group filed suit Wednesday in federal court in Washington, DC.
M. Raymen and Steven P. Hansen are seeking $25 million in damages.
The ad, by USA Next, is attacking the AARP for opposing the Bush administration's proposed changes to Social Security and attempts to "discredit" the organization by suggesting it supports gay marriage and opposes the war in Iraq.
The AARP has come under fire from conservatives for opposing President Bush's call for Social Security reform.
The ad features two photos, one of a soldier and one with a picture of two men in tuxedos kissing. The picture of the solider has an X over it. The one of Raymen and Hansen has a checkmark. The ad has the caption "The real AARP agenda."
The ad was produced for USA Next by Mark Montini International, Montini is a GOP strategist and chief executive officer of CampaignSecrets.com.
Last week USA Next and Montini admitted they did not have legal rights to the picture of Raymen and Hansen. The couple married last year during Portland's brief attempt to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The suit names both USA Next and Montini and alleges that the use of the couple’s image without permission constituted an invasion of privacy, was libelous, violated their right of publicity and constituted an intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“Our privacy and personal integrity were violated when our wedding photo was stolen and used to portray us as treasonous, unpatriotic, and a threat to American troops,” Raymen said Wednesday.
“We have been harassed and humiliated by this hateful ad campaign and by the bigotry and anger it has generated against us nationwide.”
"Our lawsuit is intended to make USA Next and Mark Montini pay for the harm they have caused and to send a message to them that they cannot recklessly play with peoples' reputations and make them targets of hate, as they have done with us,” Raymen said. “When we get our judgment, we intend to donate to those who fight the kind of hate and homophobia that USA Next and Montini have demonstrated."
The couple's lawyer, Christopher Wolf, said USA Next and Montini should have known the harm publication of the picture in the attack ad would cause.
“As a result of the publication of the advertisement, plaintiffs have suffered embarrassment, extreme emotional distress, and invasion of privacy" Wolf said."
"In addition, as a result of the libelous statement communicated by the advertisement about plaintiffs, their reputations as patriotic American citizens has been severely damaged.”
Both USA Next and Montini initially said that they had bought the rights to the photo of Raymen and Hansen from the Portland Tribune. But, they recanted that after the Tribune issued a statement that it had not sold rights to the photo.
"The paper did not give, sell or contribute its use in any way, and no request for its use was received before the photo appeared in the ad," said Tim Jewett, Portland Tribune photo director.
Jewett said the paper may launch its own suit against Montini and USA Next.
ABC news has linked some of the members of USA Next to the same people behind the controversial Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that challenged the war record of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry. And, there have been unverified suggestions that Montini has links to Talon News the now defunct conservative online publication that employed J.D. Guckert the man who posed as a White House reporter while working as a male prostitute.
Neither Montini nor USA Next has responded to the suit.
©365Gay.com 2005
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