Is This Gay Valentine’s Day Card Homophobic?
Hallmark might be holding out on targeting the gay greeting card market, but a one Susanne Fox, a heterosexual designer living in Brooklyn, says she’s got your ticket. “A lesbian friend of mine who works with a Broadway production company mentioned that the boys at work were upset about a lack of man-to-man Valentine’s Day cards,” she says. So she came up with this one: “When you asked to borrow a fag I told you, Come and Get Me. Glad to be your Valentine.” Uh.
Read Kevin points us to this Patch story about Fox’s card business, most of which takes place on the crafts site Etsy.com. “I brainstormed a few ideas with my friend and the rest was easy.” Easy enough to offend at least one person who has a problem with a hetero making homos a punchline.
Kevin reached out to Etsy, which responded: “We respect that our members come from all walks of life and may hold different beliefs. What is offensive to one may be a personal or artistic statement to the creator.” Which sounds like a corporate crapshoot answer, but it’s one I can see plenty of other companies standing behind — just like that white guy who had no problem selling racist Sambo soaps, because hey, what is offensive to one may be an artistic statement to another.
I would hate to be accused of leaving stuff out and they got back to me quickly so here is the full response. I replied asking what their policy is on hate speech and have not yet received a response.
Hi Kevin,
This is Adam Brown, I’m the press manager at Etsy. Thank you for getting in touch. I’m sorry to see that something in our marketplace was upsetting to you.
Etsy is a diverse global marketplace and community, with thousands of independent shops. We respect that our members come from all walks of life and may hold different beliefs. What is offensive to one may be a personal or artistic statement to the creator. Etsy does not pre-screen users or the content or information provided by users. User-generated content reflects only the opinions and perspectives of the person who posted it.
I will send a link to these cards to our Customer Support Team, so that they can review them and determine whether the cards are in compliance with Etsy’s rules.
Thanks again for bringing this to my attention. If you have any other Etsy-related questions in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Best Wishes,
Adam
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if you’re offended by this then you seriously need to get out more. there are plenty of actually homophobic things going on to get worked up about — why waste time and alienate someone who’s obviously an ally trying to fill an empty niche for the gay community?
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IDK how to feel about this. I don’t think any harm was meant, but unintentional homophobic ignorance is almost worse than the outright hate…so, while I don’t think attacking is necessary, I do think she needs to be educated on the fact that ‘fag’ coming from a straight person(or anyone really), be they bigot or ally, is offensive, and, furthermore perpetuates stereotypes that we really ought to be trying to get away from. So, while I think she was trying to be nice(maybe? idk, she needs to realize the potential to offend, and why, with something like this.
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Oh, YEAH…. because this card will trigger TEEN SUICIDES. Awesome.
Seriously. Homophobia? Perpetuating stereotype? It’s a cute little card, making a silly pun about British English, obviously meant to be given by a gay man.
Please just GET OVER YOURSELVES. You people are all so fucking fragile, I can hardly believe it. How do you even leave the house? Maybe you just don’t, I guess…
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@thematics: When I was a smoker, a while back, people would always ask to “borrow” a cigarette from me. Usually because there was the intent of giving one back at a later date, of course. As for this card, I can see how it could be offensive to the american crowd but I don’t think we are the targetted audience for this card as “fag” is not initially intended the way “WE” are making it. Lighten up. It is doubtful we will see this card in the US. We don’t refer to cigs as fags, after all.
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@~R~:
You’re right — it’s been so long since I’ve smoked that I forgot that one can lend or borrow a cigarette! (or ‘bum’ one, for that matter).
I found the card unfunny, but not offensive per se.
The phrase ‘Wanna share a fag?’ reminds me of school. Those were the days, lol.
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It’s not really that funny (but then most cards on the shelf aren’t very funny to me, but other people might like them…)
It’s also not very offensive… Honestly, there are tons of actually offensive things out there, why on earth would you pick a Valentine’s Day card that is actually intended to be given by gay people? It’s not very funny, but I highly doubt the intent was to offend…
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It is obvious from the picture of her that she is very impressed with herself. I am less impressed. She’s not gay. She hasn’t been through the struggles. All she has done is dress really badly and move to NYC and fancied herself a ‘creative type’. That’s not enough to earn you admission into the club. Sorry, but this lady should gently poke fun at privledged, bored, white housewives with too much time on their. That is the only group she has paid her dues in
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Rainbow Moments is a great Card Store that Caters exclusively to the LGBTQ Community. The cards are tasteful and aren’t offensive. And even if you think that they are you are free to contact the artist and voice your opinions. If you have any special requests for custom greeting cards for your loved one, they will design a greeting card just for you at NO COST!
Great designs are added every month!
It’s easy, affordable and great quality paper greeting cards that can be mailed to you or your recipient.
Check them out at this link – http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/rainbowmoments
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Is it homophobic? Uh, no. Not in this context. “Fag” coming from a gay man is like calling someone “Mary.” And even if it were meant to be offensive, what homophobe would willingly call themselves gay. Logic gap?