Slog News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

« The Fearless Vampires | Letter of the Day »

Thursday, October 23, 2008

We Are Not the Enemy

posted by on October 23 at 11:19 AM

mel%20me%20we%20are%20not%20the%20enemy.jpg

A “Savage Love” reader writes…

I’m a California-bred Brooklyn resident aching over my home state’s seeming support of Prop 8. I decided to start a picture blog called “We Are Not The Enemy.” It’ll simply consist of photographs of LGBT couples holding a sign that says “We Are Not The Enemy.” (Similar to sorryeverybody in 2004.) I hope to give people a quick, simple, visual look at the great range of couples affected by harmful legislation and discrimination. So I’m looking for couples (or LGBT pals) who want to participate!

We Are Not The Enemy is here, and you can submit a photo by emailing it to wearenottheenemy@gmail.com.

The site only went live a day or two ago so there aren’t tons of photos up yet. And I doubt that WeAreNotTheEnemy will reach its presumed target audience the same way that SorryEverybody.com did. SorryEverybody.com was created for citizens of other countries around the world who couldn’t believe that we had just (re)elected that asshole in 2004—they visited the site to remind themselves that not all Americans were stupid enough to support Bush in 2004. And Americans who voted against Bush visited the site too—I did, and the damn thing had me sobbing my eyes out in a downtown coffee shop—because it made us feel less estranged from our fellow citizens.

But will people who hate and fear gay couples—the people who need to be told that we are not, in fact, the enemy—spend time on this website? Probably not. But it couldn’t hurt and there’s something sweet and moving about the small handful of pictures posted so far.

Check it out.

RSS icon Comments

1


Gay couples are great.

What I fear are the single guys at Southcenter who were looking at me funny last Tuesday.

How many times do I have to say "no"?

Posted by John Bailo | October 23, 2008 11:27 AM
2

Can we please refrain from posting the ugly couples that seem to make up 90% of these submissions whenever they're around? I'm talking about the white trash dykes and the fat ugly fags. They're hideous. I mean they are totally the enemy. Of everyone.

Posted by just plain nasty | October 23, 2008 11:28 AM
3

cut it out mr. poe! you're not foolin' anyone!

Posted by scary tyler moore | October 23, 2008 11:40 AM
4

the homophobes might not visit it, but as a queer californian, i will! and i'll feel that same solidarity with like-minded people that i did with sorryeverybody.



and damn, those are some cute couples!

Posted by mary | October 23, 2008 11:41 AM
5

Ugh! nasty lesbians are NSFW!1

Posted by do not want | October 23, 2008 11:43 AM
6

Speaking of ugly gay couples:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/23/jorge

It appears that the recently deceased Austrian fascist head of state was gay, as is his successor, and, his lover, also a fascist nut-job. I wonder how they'd feel about prop-8.

Posted by kinaidos | October 23, 2008 11:43 AM
7

They left No on 102 in Arizona off of their list, but I'm sure they'll get some e-mails telling them about it.

Even if it doesn't reach its target audience, it won't hurt to have pictures of happy people on the Internet. Never too many of those.

Posted by whatevernevermind | October 23, 2008 11:45 AM
8

They left No on 102 in Arizona off of their list, but I'm sure they'll get some e-mails telling them about it.

Even if it doesn't reach its target audience, it won't hurt to have pictures of happy people on the Internet. Never too many of those.

Posted by whatevernevermind | October 23, 2008 11:46 AM
9

So nice, I posted twice. Sorry about the glitch!

Posted by whatevernevermind | October 23, 2008 11:47 AM
10

That Austrian Nazi loon is 27? He looks 57.

Posted by Fnarf | October 23, 2008 11:48 AM
11

@10, it's true!

Posted by Bellevue Ave | October 23, 2008 1:21 PM
12

John at comment #1:

What part of Southcenter are the single guys hanging out? I'm sure I have some shopping to do this weekend.....

Posted by Richard | October 23, 2008 1:22 PM
13

Except that picture is of haider, not the lover.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | October 23, 2008 1:22 PM
14

Oh, I don't know - I've been keeping an eye out for "soundbite" (picture-bite?) sized links to send out to my homophobic/fundie relatives (hey - they send me the e-mail forward version of chick tracts, I send kissing boys). This sounds like a great link-dropping thing.

Posted by SeaExile | October 23, 2008 1:24 PM
15

I think first of all, you need a new slogan. "Negating the frame supports the frame," says the linguist George Lakoff. Therefore, people see these posters and think, "hmm.. gay... enemy."

However, couples with average looks could help the cause. There's a chance that people feel more threatened by good looking couples, as it might partially arouse them and then trigger some sort of acquired Pavlovian response.

Or maybe its the opposite. The uptight heterosexuals whole fear of "losing" the "sanctity" of marriage is the notion that, because gays are bad, if they're allowed to marry it damages the name. They're afraid of being associated with gays because they see gays as immoral. The uptight right has succeeded in making anyone who hears "gay marriage" to immediately think of anal sex. Therefore, the threat is making their "pure" marriages somehow related to anal sex. That's one thing the gay PR needs to fight. How? not sure. Maybe showing beautiful gays will make the uptight right feel better by association.

Another thing: while polls show right now, Prop 8 has a majority of support, there's a chance they may underestimate the youth vote, which is far more sympathetic to gay causes.

One thing I just thought of that could help, is to show how gays are just like you. We need images gays who are everyday people.

Posted by LST | October 23, 2008 1:27 PM
16

#12: "What part of Southcenter are the single guys hanging out? I'm sure I have some shopping to do this weekend....."

2nd level food court. It's open season (for gay guys) as far as I could tell. Nice females as well. Happy hunting!

Posted by John Bailo | October 23, 2008 1:30 PM
17

Americans like to live in Fear.

It's what most Americans do.

But they shouldn't.

Posted by Will in Seattle | October 23, 2008 2:06 PM
18

@15 "...while polls show right now, Prop 8 has a majority of support..."

I'm happy to report that the very latest polling shows that the numbers have reversed once again, and Prop 8 is currently losing. In other words, the fundraising of this past month worked. Good job, Dan and all who contributed.

Posted by whatevernevermind | October 23, 2008 2:21 PM
19

#15: Lakoff is an idiot. You might not think so, but he's the laughing stock of his field.

To the assholes: who gives a shit what the folks in the post look like? They're people, and that's what counts.

Posted by clayton | October 23, 2008 2:38 PM
20

Right on @19-they are people and they are not the enemy. Looks-do-not-matter!
Why can't everyone just figure out that we are all people and we are all the same on the inside-where it counts. This is a beautiful and touching site. Thank you!

Posted by DZ | October 23, 2008 9:21 PM
21

@18 thanks for the heads up. thats good news.

@19 I'm not here to argue about Lakoff... I'm here to help. And since I take framing seriously, here's what I think the poster should say:

"We are people."

Much more powerful. Doesn't reinforce the oppositions frame.

Posted by LST | October 24, 2008 2:34 PM

Comments Closed

Comments are closed on this post.