Join the Impact, the grassroots group responsible for organizing last month’s national day of protest, is continuing its effort to raise awareness about marriage equality by planning a candlelight vigil for this Saturday, Dec. 20th at shopping centers and public spaces around the country. Dubbed “Light Up the Night“, the event asks protesters to refrain from, well– protesting, saying on its site that “singing and/or silence encouraged…chanting is not” and “we will stay silent unless asked a question, we will not yell, instigate, or bear signs” and that it’s all “in the holiday spirit.”
So how will Wal-Mart shoppers know that what they’re seeing has anything to do with marriage equality? Well, Join the Impact says, “We will let our shirts do the talking” and tells protesters holders-of-candles that they should “Dress alike. Wear the same t-shirts or signs pinned to your coats” and helpfully provides a link to purchase a “Second Class Citizen” t-shirt. Not everyone likes this idea, with one commenter on the site saying, “I won’t be part of anything that says, look at poor me a “second class citizen”. That even means standing with a group of people wearing such a degrading slogan. We are a creative community we can do so much better.”
And while this sounds like the Debbie Downer of marriage equality protests (standing silently in the cold while holding a candle is hard), the event is the culmination of Join the Impact’s National Food Drive for Equality, originally started by a group in Cleveland, which is donating food to faith-based food pantries, including ones that oppose marriage equality. The idea behind both events is to put a positive face on the gay community, to say, “Hey, we can do more than just march and disappear for a day! We can also donate food and stand silently in the cold.”
Wolf
UGH I am soooooo sick of Marriage. Its NOT ONLY ABOUT MARRIAGE FOR CHRISTMAS SAKE!
I REALLY WISH that these organizations would REALIZE that Focusing on ONLY Gay Marriage is like Focusing on just one symptom of an illness.
The Focus needs o be on COMPLETE Civil rights to get more Gays and Lesbians involved and also to make it seem like less of an attack on Religion and put more focus and responsibilty of it on the Federal level. Its ridiculous just fighting for our right piecemeal. It will take FOREVER to get Equal Rights and Civil Liberties Across the Board that way.
S
I’m very confused by this strategy. A silent protest can be effective, but only if a) people can clearly understand your message and b) the act of silence (or singing) is clearly related to the issue you are protesting. Neither appears to be true in this case.
Why can’t they carry signs or do a sit-in? This seems like an overeaction to criticism about “agressive” past tactics. But those tactics were working, so why stop?
hardmannyc
Basta! These people keep calling these protests and people are getting burned out. So then the right can say, “See, there’s no support there.” Jesus, didn’t that ridiculous “Day Without a Gay” teach us anything?
REBELComx
Day Without a Gay wasn’t set up by the same people and was a pretty bad idea in the first place.
And Wolf, Marriage is a vital part of the civil rights issue. Until it becomes Federally recognized, we are missing out on more than a thousand federal rights. Until the government recognized our love and our unions as equal to everyone else’s, how are they supposed to recognize US as equal and give us the other rights we so deserve. The bible thumpers see our love as sin…as unnatural, as sub-human. Until that stigma is wiped out (at least wiped out of the government), we can never truly be treated as equals.
Charles Merrill
They got a taste of donations and hope the money comes in again.
Wolf
@REBELComx:
I understand what you are saying. What I am saying we need to stand for an ALL or nothing. We can’t focus on ONE out of many transgressions and fix them one by one. We need to Stand up for ALL OUR RIGHTS AT ONCE
Leland Frances
Fuck that stupid childish cunt in Seattle, Amy IMPACTed Bowels, and her ever more stupid projects [whether she originates the idea is irrelevant—the original protest wasn’t her idea either, she just viralized it as she is these].
1. T-shirts on December 20th? Bitch, pull your head out of your West Coast ass and buy a clue about how cold it will be in most of the most populated parts of the country. And pinning wind-blown signs to our winter coats like WWII British orphans is SO bright, too. NOT!
2. “donating food to faith-based food pantries, INCLUDING ones that OPPOSE marriage equality”????
FUCK THAT BULLSHIT! We do NOT NEED TO PROVE that we “DESERVE” equality, even to those who tend to support us, let alone those who don’t who will take the food, smile insincerely, and take it to the backroom to wash off our queer cooties before serving it, and STILL H8TE us!
Read the fucking Declaration of Independence, Bitch! Our legal strategy has always been that, like other, nongay Americans, we are CREATED equal. We don’t have to work for it or earn it; we don’t have to bribe people for it with money or food or good deeds like the “volunteer” part of the lame ass “Day Without A Gay.”
You might have lots of pretty candles but you are totally in the dark about what this is all about and how to make it real.
You’re beginning to make me miss HRC.
Rob
You’re absolutely right Leland. After all, back in the 50s, some ethnic group tried to win civil rights by doing lame things like sitting at lunch counters (how pathetic!), and walking peacefully while singing hymns (hymns?? ooo, scary!). Did it get them anywhere?
Zlick
Ok, so maybe elements of this weren’t clearly thought out. T-shirts in December? That’s not working even here in L.A. Second Class Citizen? Turns out to be a very controversial message.
But … people seem to dislike it for the same reason others really like it. Our particular solution, considering JoinTheImpact’s directives as guidelines rather than rules, is to have a selection of different stickers that people can affix to their clothing.
And yeah, since this is a DiFFereNT kind of visibility event from the recent protests and rallies, the stickers will do the overt talking, and the silent vigil (in our case, a procession through one of the most visible and crowded parts of town) will express our cause in a different way.
Not ideal? Who cares? We have to have different types of events in our bag of tricks, or else the public, the media and our own participants will get bored.
Seeing it’s high time we shifted from Post-Election anger to a more positive effort aimed at further moving public opinion, a peaceful, holiday season candle-light vigil and FOOD DRIVE seems like a pretty ideal event to me.
Leland Frances
Oh, grow the fuck up, Rob. You DARE mention those who literally risked their lives sitting in at Southern lunch counters in the same breath with these children of the corny?
But, yes, THEY did effect change, but while “walking peacefully while singing hymns” was moving to many, it was NOT what dismantled Jim Crow laws and social acceptance of overt racism. The sit-ins, the boycotts, the DISRUPTION of bigots’ lives and incomes, AND the fear that cities would be burned to the ground, not candles, was what turned that tide.
And Zlick has obviously learned NOTHING from the equally poorly conceived and executed “Day Without A Clueless Gay.”
NEWSFLASH: “the public, the media” are ALREADY bored with such disorganized, directionless, Lilliputian “tricks.”
Wilbur America: So, what are they doing now?
Bertha America: Oh, they’re kinda milling around again, giggling. But there’s another cute sign and that same huge drag queen. Where does she buy all that clown white makeup? Wilbur America, did you just fart? This is what MY marriage has come to!
Wilbur: Sorry. Could you get me another beer while you’re up and change the channel. The “Law & Order” marathon is about to start.
Rob
Okay Leland, what have you done in the past week for the cause?
Tim
Whoa, Leland, dial back the self-loathing homophobia.
Wolf
I’m sorry. I agree with Leland.
Tell me did ANY of you see Milk?
Charles J. Mueller
Leland, you are right on the fucking money. I’m with you, 100 per cent.
It took queens fighting back at Stonewall (I was there) to grab the attention of NYC politicians and it took blacks igniting American Cities to grab whitey by the balls.
The lesson learned? You don’t get a bully to stop picking on you and beating up on you by reciting the Lord’s Prayer, singing hymns and tossing rose petals at him. It takes a well directed knee to the groin to get him to back off.
Gays are much too passive and totally willing to back down from a fight and everyone knows that.
It’s not the Lord’s way.
It’s not what Jesus would do.
We need to set an example.
Hitting them back makes us “Just like them”.
Calling them out on their hatefulness only makes them hate us all the more.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
That’s the reason so many people pay us absolutely no mind and take such horrendous advantage of us. We let them fuck us over.
We empower them by not fighting back. Turning the other cheek is for losers.
Pacifism never works. If you’re gonna start a war, and a war is what this is, then you need to go at it with the mindset of winning, like the Christians and Mormons did. There are no rules in love and war, and there are no gentlemen in the boxing/wrestling ring. Get over it.
Crying “no fairsies”, whining, complaining, running under mama’s skirts and looking for someone else to fight our battles for us isn’t working. The only thing brutes understand, is brute force.
Look through your history book, guys. No war was ever won by making nicey-nice with the enemy or sucking up to them.
Hirohito had to learn that.
Mussolini had to learn that.
And Hitler had to learn that as well.
And if you guys don’t believe or understand that this is a war, well then, I guess some of you still believe in the tooth fairy, Peter Rabbit and Santa Claus.
No quarter under the pillow, no Easter eggs on the front lawn and no gifts under the Christmas tree for you queers will soon be playing at a theater near you.
Just you waite, ‘enry ‘iggins! Just you waite.
The bullies will see to that!
Jeff
Getting out and doing SOMETHING is better than bitching on the internet. They’re having a food drive around it too, i saw something about this at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, which is cool.
Charles J. Mueller
@Wolf:
You asked: “Tell me did ANY of you see Milk?”
Why yes, Wolf, I did. I went to see it this past Friday night. It was quite a moving experience and brought back a time almost 40 years ago when I was very active in the gay liberation movement.
People like Harvey Milk, Frank Kameny, Pastor Troy Perry, Craig Rodwell, Mark Segal, Randy Wicker, Dick Leitsch, Barbara Gittings and countless others, were all willing to out themselves publicly at a time when doing so could get one killed and willing to stand up to bigotry and hatred and by so doing, make a difference in the world.
Many of the rights that we take for granted today, had to be fought for and paid for in blood, sweat and tears. None of them came for free. And that is why I get so fucking mad when I hear gay people saying things like “Somebody ought to do something” or asking stupid, self-sanctimonious questions like Rob.
As if people who came before owe him an explanation or documentation of their contributions to the gay community to validate their very existence.
We could well ask Rob the same question. But then, this war isn’t about who did the most, is it?
We all do what we can, no matter how inconsequential it may seem others.
Like the old lady said when she pee’d in the ocean.
“Every little bit helps” 😉
Jim
Totally in agreement with Leland and Charles here, totally. Hey, I’m glad someone’s out there doing SOMETHING, but what’s with the lameness of the ideas? I was hoping that the younger generation taking up the reins would have more FIRE! These 2 most recent ideas seem like, well cheesy PUBLICITY STUNTS. If publicity is the goal, go back to the annals of ACT UP and take some lessons of stunts which were amazingly organized, choreographed, thought-out and hard-hitting! Peaceful is wonderful, but where’s the simpe strength of a hard-hitting message? Now that I got that out of the way (and my sarcastic side is coming to the forefront), um, a food drive at Christmas…how NOVEL!
Kid A
I saw online (and ordered) a great bumper sticker that was mostly black, but had a rainbow on the left side, and on the right said in big bold letters: “THESE COLORS DON’T RUN EITHER.”
I think that’s a good attitude, and turns that post-911 hawkish saying on its head.
Rob
“As if people who came before owe him an explanation or documentation of their contributions to the gay community to validate their very existence.”
What?? If someone complains about the lameness of what others are doing, it’s fair to ask what he himself is doing. If you think I’m asking to anyone to “validate their very existence” that’s a creation of your mind, not mine.
Wolf
@Rob:
Well You know I personally don;t think Leland is bitching rather than trying to get some lacidasical queens fired up.
You know we all should be ANGRY and PISSED and be willing to stand and FIGHT for our RIGHTS.
REALLY Cmon now. A Food Drive is a good thing but it isn;t going to get me Equal protection.
You know I have been to the “grassroots sites” like “Join the Impact” and imputed my opinion that I think too much focus is just on the CA Gat Marriage to which I was baically told one thing at a time. AND THATS NOT GOING TO WORK.
Then theres the matter of pampered ;acidasical queens who complain “Oh I’ll never wear a Second Class Citizen T Shirt. Its too degrading” And I did read that. The T shirt is too degrading but not having the same rights as everyone else isn’t.
We actually need people like Lekand, Charles, Jim and myself. People who are RIGHTEOUSLT MAD AS HELL AND WILL ARGUE AND BITCH IN THE GAY COMMUNITY TO GET SOME OF YOU. (Not all of you.) OFF YOUR ASSES AND TO ACTUALLY GET MAD AND FIGHT.
I have offered many times to buy and host a website for those of us who remember what activism ACTUALLY is but I need help building it and NOT ONE PERSON has emailed me saying they’ll help me build it.
It’s time for a manifesto. Its time to STAND UP AND FIGHT. We should organize a 40 Year Anniversary March on Washington on the Anniversary of Stonewall and DEMAND our rights.
Charles J. Mueller
@Wolf:
> “We should organize a 40 Year Anniversary March on Washington on the Anniversary of Stonewall and DEMAND our rights.”
That sounds like an incredible idea, Wolf. I’m 72 years old with emphysema, but I’d march in that parade. You can bet on it.
Charles J. Mueller
@Leland, Jim & Wolf:
I just emailed my friend, Randy Wicker who has been a gay activist since long before Stonewall, to see if he might have some input on the idea of organizing a March on Washington.
Jordan
Hey folks, if you don’t agree with the whole bullshit “no signs” thing, DON’T FOLLOW IT. Just bring your own! Me and some other folks will be bringing some large poles (no pun intended) with the “white knot” tied on them, to make the statement. We’re also hoping to have a large banner to show our purpose.
These folks are only “instigating” the idea. They can’t stop you from making your own impact. Let’s piggy-back on a half-assed idea, and make it better, yes?
Wolf
Leland
When you hear from Randy please Pass my email along, [email protected] I would like to be part of the prganization of this, I have done much research into how Stonewall 25 was set up.
Also the offer still stands. If anyone out there would like to help me build a website pertaining to Gay Rights and events PLEASE CONTACT ME.
Rob
Wolf,
It’s no longer that difficult to build a website sharing your stories or counsel. That’s exactly what blogs are for, and they give you a mechanism to most things automatically. You can start at https://www.blogger.com/start. Or, if you’re a bit more ambitious and don’t mind reading some documentation, try http://wordpress.com/
But either one will get you up and running.