How do you repurpose a deeply homophobic hashtag? Like this.
Today in refurbishing homophobic hashtags in a constructive way.
The story behind this tape:
I was working in the newsroom of Sacramento’s FOX affiliate on November 5, 2008 when this piece of videotape came in. The tape shows two men being married at the Sacramento county clerk’s office, only to have their ceremony interrupted by the county clerk who said that, due to the overwhelming number of votes in support of Proposition 8, the county was suspending marriages for same sex couples.
After watching this video on a tape deck in our newsroom, I decided to publish it to our website unedited. Four years later, it’s still there. It’s one of those rare pieces of videotape that tells the story without narration or commentary.
I figured it was worth sharing again today.
The silent embrace before the interview is just … so heavy.
Unfortunately, this disease, where a man has sex with a man, which is absolutely unnatural and shouldn’t happen but it is happening, is spreading around the world and has also come to India. Even in our country the numbers of men having sex with men is significant.Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad • Making comments about the AIDS virus. He later tried to clarify that he didn’t mean gay people, but it’s kinda hard to prove that when he’s quoted saying this. He claims that it only sounded like this because of the way he said it in Hindi, but there’s no way of telling if that’s true. Let’s hope not, because placing a stigma on an entire group of people is wrong, but especially when it comes from government official, simply because it has more impact. source (via • follow)
My baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have. And I think that’s the right thing to do. But I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough, and I think (it) is something that we’re going to continue to debate, and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward.President Barack Obama, in a December news conference • Discussing his “evolving” views on gay marriage. Tonight, Obama will host a gala as a fundraiser for his campaign — the first of its kind for gay donors. With the gay marriage bill in New York being hanging over his head, this gala will really put his “evolving” view on the issue to the test. Lots of people are criticizing Obama for his stance on gay marriage — especially his progressive base. It’s also worth noting that Obama supported gay marriage back in 1996. It’ll be interesting to see how this gala pans out tonight, because this will come up. source (via • follow)
This is not about religion, this is about civil rights.Sharon Baum, a protester for gay marriage in New York • Describing her take on the gay marriage situation. (Another take, from 80-year-old Ginny Winn: “If this passes, we will become Sodom and Gomorrah.”)Tension is growing as the bill to legalize gay marriage hits in a critical stage — one that requires at least some Republican support to make it happen. It’s a key battleground state for the gay rights movement: If gay marriage passes in New York, there’s a good chance it will set a precedent that other states will follow the Empire State’s lead. A large number of people on both sides of this bill have come forward to protest a decision that could go either way at this point. Keep an eye on this today, guys. source (via • follow)
Republican NYS Senator Greg Ball of NY’s 40th district has opened up the gay marriage discussion on Twitter, sending out a call for tweeters to let him know how they think he should vote.
Gotta admit, this is kind of awesome.
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