Lawsuit against USA Next off to a good start

You’ve seen the ad. USA Next, a new right-wing front group led by the hacks that brought us the Swiftboat Vets, began their drive to help Bush privatize Social Security with a bizarre smear of the AARP, suggesting the seniors’ group is anti-military and pro-gay marriage.

But as part of the smear, USA Next ran a photo of a gay couple in Oregon getting married. The photo, naturally, was used without permission, prompting the couple to file a four-count, $25 million lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the smear was an invasion of their privacy, was libelous, violated their right of publicity, and constituted an intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Yesterday, the suit got off to a good start.

A federal judge on Thursday prohibited a conservative group supporting President Bush’s Social Security plan from using a photo of a gay couple in its online ads attacking AARP…. U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton issued a temporary restraining order forbidding use of the photograph by USA Next.

The Portland, Ore., couple, Richard Raymen and Steven Hansen, filed suit against USA Next on Wednesday, saying they hadn’t consented “to serve as models for a homophobic and mean-spirited campaign for a political group with whose views they strongly disagree.”

The Internet ad showed a photo of a soldier with a red X over him and, next to it, a photo of two tuxedoed men kissing, with a green check mark over them. The photo was taken by the Portland Tribune on March 3, 2004, the day Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

“We took the banner ad down before we even learned that these gentlemen claimed that their picture had been misused. We have not used their picture since then. We do not intend to do so,” USA Next Chairman Charlie Jarvis said after the judge’s ruling.

Sorry, Charlie, you used it once, and now you’re paying the price. May all of USA Next’s campaign go this well.