Accompanying a photo of a man with blond highlights and an earring, posed with a young boy and girl, the text reads, "It may be a son or daughter, niece or nephew, even a partner, but someone you love may want to go to college..."

The ad has appeared in gay newspapers in Chicago, Columbus, Phoenix, Dallas, Indianapolis, New Orleans and Denver.

"Simply put, this is a great product to market to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community ("GLBT")," said Dennis Giglio, director of emerging market acquisition programs for Bank One. "It is a myth that gay and lesbian households don't have children in their lives." A 2001 study from OpusComm Group found that almost half (49.5% total; 57.8% lesbians; 42.9% gay men) of gays and lesbians in the study described themselves as being partnered. Almost 13% of those surveyed indicated that they have children under the age of 18 living at home--the majority being lesbian households. That compares to 29.6% for all U.S. households according to recent U.S. census data. Giglio added "the opportunity to market CollegeChoice to the GLBT community isn't limited to those households with children. 529 plans provide a terrific opportunity for gays and lesbians to participate in the lives of their nieces, nephews, grandchildren or others by giving the gift of education by opening an account and naming a loved one as the beneficiary."