A Greek flight and travel company is causing a stir with it’s most recent advertising campaign that appears to draw upon old, outdated homophobic stereotypes of gay men being predatory and lecherous.
The AirFasttickets video, published on video sharing site YouTube and other media outlets features a handsome young male hitchhiker who is then picked up by a trucker. All seems well until the trucker is revealed as a gay man and then the stereotypes flood out rapidly. The truck driver makes supposedly suggestive glances at the hitchhiker and each time the hitchhiker looks increasingly uncomfortable.
The strap line of the ad is that to avoid similar uncomfortable situations people should book with AirFasttickets.
Homophobia has steadily been on the increase on Greece since the debt crisis started during the early part of 2010 and the ever changing political situation in the financially troubled nation. In November last year, in central Athens, large anti-gay protesters and members of Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn succeeded in forcing a theatre company into closing its production of Corpus Christi, which portrays Jesus Christ as a gay man.
Also in November last year Greek state television decided to censor out a gay kiss scene in the popular British drama Downton Abbey, sparking fears that a change in attitudes it could be down to the influence of Golden Dawn.
Golden Dawn, known for its homophobic and racist anti-immigrant stance, has been on the political ascendancy since Greece’s 2012 elections. “There is a lot more hostility on the streets these days. I have been refused service in a convenience store for being gay and it is getting to the point where I don’t feel safe walking in certain neighbourhoods” a gay contact reported yesterday.