Kavanaugh Ad Finances Anti-Gay Web Site

BUFFALO—In the fall of 2007 this newspaper detailed the fact that a number of local candidates for public office have been financing the anti-gay web site politicswny.net. The site is mainly a collection of creative rumors and copyrighted articles that are cut and pasted from professional news gathering organizations. The site is operated by anti-gay activist Joseph Illuzzi.

2007 site statistics obtained by Outcome indicated that Mr. Illuzzi greatly inflates his vistitor numbers and also showed that visitors to the site did so using computers owned by state and local governments. Meaning what web traffic the site gets is mainly from people already involved in local politics.

Our analysis of the site in 2007 found that of the 26 elected officials that had advertising on the site only Congressman Brian Higgins and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt had stopped paying for the advertising and had written Mr. Illuzzi requesting that their advertisements be removed from the site in light of Mr. Illuzzi's negative attacks on gay people. Illuzzi has thus far refused to remove the ads. Candidates financial reports indicated that ads on Mr. Illuzzi's webs site can run as high as $5,000 per campaign season.

Illuzzi is well known for for his practice of insulting and bad mouthing candidates until they agree to advertise on his website. Advertisers are then rewarded with praise and endorsement.

Recently Illuzzi used his web

Kavanaugh Ad Finances Anti-Gay Web Site
Outcome Buffalo, NY