Florida Agenda

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA: Before departing on their “race around the world,” new “The Amazing Race” team of Ron Kellum and Tony Stovall stopped by the West Hollywood studio of photographer, Adam Bouska to pose for their official NOH8 campaign portrait. Best friends for over 20 years, Kellum, 45, said that his biggest achievement came when he was cast in his first Broadway show, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and writing his first book, “The Gypsy’s Survival Guide to Show-Business.” Stovall, 42, said his biggest achievement has been getting his MBA. Unfortunately, success in life doesn’t mean success on “The Amazing Race” as they were the first to be eliminated from this season’s show as they couldn’t find Stonehenge in the U.K.

Celebrity Photographer Brings Message to Florida

By Bob Kecskemety

Up to 150 people attended the NOH8 Campaign photo shoot held this past Monday, June 21, 2010 at CopyThis on Wilton Drive. People came from as far as Virginia to attend the shoot. California-based celebrity photographer, Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley were Grand Marshals of this year’s Stonewall Street Festival and Parade and held the official photo shoot the following day. Monies raised from the shoot go to the couple’s NOH8 Campaign which is attempting to raise awareness of the lack of equal rights for the gay community, including the lack of marriage rights, through their multi-media campaign.

After the passage of the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 in California, Bouska and Parshley took photos of themselves in the now-familiar NOH8 theme. Soon friends wanted their photo taken in the same style and then friends of friends followed by total strangers nationwide. Together they formed the NOH8 Campaign, a 501(c)(3) organization calling for equal rights for the LGBT community.

Most of the over 5,000 photos shot thus far for the campaign have been taken on the west coast in California. This was Bouska’s first shoot in the southeast United States. “We’re excited to get a new voice to the cause,” said Bouska. “This shows that [LGBT marriage rights] is not just a California issue.”

“For us the [popularity of the photos] is a bit overwhelming,” stated Bouska when asked about the popularity of the photos. “We never intended it to become this big organization. But now that we see these people getting involved in lending their faces and telling their stories, we felt it was our responsibility to get those stories heard. Equal right is not just a California issue. Everyone has the right to have their rights protected and if one person’s rights are at risk, everyone’s rights are at risk.”

For more information please visit the NOH8 Campaign website.

A group of familiar faces speaking nine different languages from all over the world came together for our third NOH8 PSA to share their one simple message: I am human.

No matter what language you speak or what country you live in, everybody everywhere speaks the universal language of love. We are all human, and we deserve to be treated equally.

Our diverse cast of Familiar Faces include Amber Rose (English), George Takei (Japanese), Kimberley Locke (English), Louis van Amstel (Dutch), Marlee Matlin (American Sign Language), Mayim Bialik (Hebrew), Selene Luna (Spanish), Vassy (Greek & French), and Vida Ghaffari (Farsi).

More info about NOH8 Campaign

(Photo: by Adam Bouska. Shown: Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of The Amazing Race.  http://www.facebook.com/noh8campaign)

NOH8 Campaign co-founders Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley, who will be leading the 2010 Stonewall Pride Parade, have announced that they will be taking official NOH8 portraits in a studo at CopyThis in Wilton Manors on Monday, June 21, 2010 from 2 to 5 pm.

The donation for individuals is $40 per portrait and $25 per peson in group photos.  All proceeds will benefit the continued action of raising awareness for equal rights, anti-discrimination and marriage equality.

CopyThis is located at 2157 WIlton Drive, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
For more information on the NOH8 Campaign

-FA