ONE of the country's biggest outdoor advertising companies has been forced to backtrack on a decision to ban billboards promoting safe homosexual sex.

Billboard operator Adshel was the target of a campaign by the Australian Christian Lobby, which also complained to Brisbane City Council and the Advertising Standards Bureau about the ads, which appeared on bus shelters around the city featuring two men embracing and the tagline "Rip & Roll" promoting condom use. The campaign had been created by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities in a public awareness exercise.

After a series of direct complaints from members of the lobby group, Adshel decided to remove the billboards, citing concerns about taste and decency.

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The removal of the billboards attracted the attention of Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who used Twitter to repeat messages condemning the decision.

Ms Bligh saw a tweet calling for the ad ban to be lifted and retweeted it on the social network.

The tweet said: "Dear #adshel, thousands of united Australians are stronger than a handful of homophobes. RT (retweet) if you agree #ripnroll".

A spokesman for the Premier confirmed she had retweeted the message herself. "I've seen these billboards about Brisbane and didn't find them offensive," Ms Bligh told The Australian.

"In fact, I thought they were very powerful in promoting safe sex practices. We can't overlook the fundamental fact that safe sex practices remain a major issue -- you only need to look at the data.

"Advertising like this works. The decision to remove the ads was regrettable. The apparent reversal of that decision this afternoon is welcome." Tens of thousands of protesters signed on to social network Facebook demanding the ads be reinstated and within hours of the campaign beginning, Adshel chief executive Steve McCarthy said the company had been the victim of a concerted campaign.

"This has led us to review our decision to remove the campaign and we will therefore reinstate the campaign with immediate effect," he said.

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