I got about 15 Google Alert emails about my social movement this week. AKA way more than I could ever write about. This definitely represents a shift from other weeks, as I have only gotten about 5 emails per week in the past. I don't think that this increase really has anything to do with one particular event happening, but for some reason everyone has decided to write about gay rights this week. I picked the ones that stood out to me:
This weekend, Valentine's Day weekend, the Reverend Billy and the "Church of Life After Shopping" will hold their second annual un-marriage ceremony for straight married couples who support gay marriage. This will occur in Central Park in New York City, and will include the couples getting "un-married," in support of the "no marriage until gay marriage" stance that many have taken on, such as Jason Mraz and Brangelina. The articles says that the purpose of this is to hold New York governor Cuomo to his promise: "I want to be the governor who signs the law that makes equality a reality in the state of New York" (http://www.revbilly.com/events/unmarriage-until-gaymarriage-2011). I found this interesting because I'm pretty sure this constitutes an image event. It's happening in a very popular and visible place and will undoubtedly be controversial and garner media attention. The only problem with this is that it most likely won't act as a mind bomb--most people are already aware of the "no marriage until gay marriage" stance because of its popularity among celebrities.
Another piece of news that I thought was very unique was about a 7-year-old boy named Malcolm who sent $70 to the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, along with a note that read: "I am sending you this money because I don't think it's fair that gay people are not treated equally" (http://www.passportmagazine.com/blog/archives/2328-Seven-Year-Old-Boy-Stands-Up-For-Gay-Rights.html). The article includes a precious picture of Malcolm and a picture of the actual note that he wrote. This event, although not an image event, definitely constitutes a visual argument, like we read about in Friday's reading. Seeing the boy's face and the picture of his 7-year-old handwriting writing about gay rights at such a young age will definitely hit people and make them think.
The last thing I'm going to talk about is an opinion article by Thomas Hale, a gay man who professes to be "saddened and angered by the state of gay rights in America," particularly the rate at which it has been progressing. Reading this article, I assumed it was written by an older person for some reason, but Thomas Hale is actually a freshman at Texas Christian University. I was very impressed with the article he wrote, and he even included, in his last paragraph, an allusion to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech. I won't summarize the entire article, because it basically just refutes a bunch of anti-gay arguments; one line in it article provides a good summary: "I fully support Democratic Iowa state Rep. Bruce Hunter, who said, 'Here's the funny thing about rights--they're not supposed to be voted on.'" I thought this article conveyed a very frustrated tone in the beginning, and ended with a hopeful tone. There have been both successes and setbacks in the gay rights movement, but big changes are much rarer. Hale mentions that the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was one of those big changes. But they need to happen much more often. (http://www.tcudailyskiff.com/opinion/gay-rights-progress-too-slowly-1.2461575?MMode=true)
No comments:
Post a Comment