CHICAGO -- An amateur body-builder is suing the Chicago Free Press and a North Side gay bar after the paper ran an ad featuring him clad in leather and chains, allegedly without his consent.

Joel Rabb, who works as a personal trainer and a "national level amateur body-builder" claims his photo was used in an advertisement for Bobby Love's bar, 3729 N. Halsted St., in the paper without his consent, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court Wednesday.

The ad, which pictures a muscular man wearing chains and leather chaps, reads, "Bobby Loves, tallest cock tail on Halsted" scrolled across the man's face.

The suit says the ad ran on May 14 and May 21 in the paper, which caters to Chicago’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

The suit, citing the Illinois Right to Publicity Act, claims Rabb gave no written permission or consent for Rainbow Media, the company which owns the paper, to use his photograph in the ad.

Rabb allegedly sent cease and desist letters to the publication following the May 21 advertisement, which was "viewed by numerous persons who live and work in the same geographic area in which Rabb lives and works," the suit said.

Rabb claims the Free Press and Bobby Love's made money from the ad, because of Rabb's career as a personal trainer and his status as a national level amateur body-builder.

Rabb wants a minimum of $1,000 per violation of the publicity act, all profits derived from the "unauthorized" use of his image and more than $200,000 in damages.

Copyright 2008, Sun-Times News Group