The Enquirer

When Alex von Rosenberg founded Atomic Dog Publishing, he had a new twist on publishing college textbooks. His Over-the-Rhine-based company posted the texts online for downloading.

Now von Rosenberg has a new locally based venture, In the Cards Design, that also has a twist on an old product. "We're using playing cards as an opportunity to deliver a message," he said. And the first message supports gay marriage.

The company's 54-card deck, produced in association with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is called And Marriage For All! The cards, which went on sale a couple of weeks ago, feature both pro- and anti-gay marriage figures along with a quote or comment.

The 40 pro-gay marriage or pro-gay advocates in the deck are depicted more sympathetically than the 12 opponents. Talk show host Dr. Laura, for example, is portrayed as a donkey.

Seven artists did the caricatures for In The Cards.

The jokers in the deck are the president and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who is pictured with the Teletubbies. (The televangelist charged in 1999 that Tinky Winky, one of the characters on the hit British children's TV show Teletubbies, was gay.)

Carta Mundi, a company in Kingsport, Tenn., makes the casino-quality cards for In The Cards.

The gay marriage decks aren't in local retail shops yet - although von Rosenberg says they will be soon. They can be purchased for $10 at www.andmarriageforall.com. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

In The Cards Design plans to produce other decks for other organizations.

Von Rosenberg also is marketing director for Parody Productions, that has gained attention with its playing cards featuring Wall Street's most wanted figures, plus presidential candidates John Kerry, Howard Dean and George W. Bush.