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Could you do a "Everyone wear red shirts to school" day?
Kind of like Gay Days at Disneyland,* where everyone who's Gay or a Gay Ally wears red shirts, and the park is a veritable SEA of red???
It was a powerful experience for me, going to Disneyland, and seeing so many people who supported me, and who would SMILE at me when I held my husband's hand.
Who think two gay men raising a child with love is a blessing.
Who support me being myself.
Heck, even Minnie Mouse wore Red!
I wish EVERYONE who's Gay or a Gay Ally could have the experience of going to Disneyland on Gay Days, and being, for once, in the MAJORITY. Being in a place where our Gay love isn't sexualized, it's just seen and accepted and celebrated by almost everyone to be as much a miracle as straight love.
But, Disneyland's expensive. And far away for most people.
So what can you and your friends do, right at home?
In your school?
Where you work?
Or maybe on the weekend?
How can you feel connected to the community of Gay and Straight Allies, and feel empowered and supported in being YOU?
I'd like to wear my red shirt, and get a lot of other people to wear red, too... Maybe on Valentine's Day 2009?
What do you think? Is taking over that holiday a good idea?
What do you think our virtual Gay-Straight Alliance should do?
What do you think YOU might do?
Let me know what you think,
Namaste,
Lee
*Interestingly, Gay Days at Disneyland is an "unofficial" event. Hmmm...
7 comments:
They don't have Gay Night at Disney any more? That's a shame. It was always a lot of fun with much different music playing and a lot of dancing in the streets.
Not sure if we've moved backwards or forwards with having it be unofficial. It's more like mainstreaming when it's done during the normal park operations. But I do miss the different atmosphere.
I work in Berkeley. :D
We have one gay staff member, and he only works one day a week because he's pretty much retired. Otherwise, every one of us is involved in grassroots/netroots when it comes to GLBT issues. We talk about current issues (GLBT and otherwise) while working and even check out our favorite grassroots sites online during our breaks or during slow moments, which our bosses don't mind (they're just as liberal and laid back about computer access as long as we don't abuse the privilege).
We keep each other fired up and informed.
One of my co-workers, a young straight guy, is probably the most fired-up supporter of gay rights I met. He actually took the weekend off from work in order to phonebank for No on Prop 8 right before the elections. :)
< pimp > Heck, he even did an illustration (he's an artist) on anti-gay marriage laws. It's the fifth image down at his site: http://paris.raupach.com/home.html (most of his art is political or takes on social issues) < /pimp >
Sarah - I don't know about Gay Night, but it sure sounds fun!
Hayden - I went to your co-worker Paris' site - cool images! It's always fascinating to see how an artist keeps a consistent aesthetic across different works of art - I love how the "Gay Marriage" image fits right in with the creepy, heightened distopian reality of the rest of his work!
Thanks for sharing the link!
Namaste,
Lee
Great idea, but Valentine's Day is already a sea of red, so nobody would really be sure why any given person was in red. How about St. Patrick's Day?
Hmm, and if you're Irish and Gay-supportive, you could wear Christmas stuff (or that might be more confusing...)
Maybe we should do it on National Coming Out Day - as a sign of support? Rather than taking over another holiday... But, it's in October, and I don't want to wait that long...
Maybe it's not an annual event, maybe it happens more often?
hmm...
We've been wanting to go to Gay Days at DisneyWorld but it's in June, not a good time for us to take a vacation and not a great time to be in Florida.
I actually love the idea of taking over Valentine's Day, which is such a bogus holiday anyway. Make it real!
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