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gay rights
Oct. 3rd, 2006 09:38 amNo, I'm not posting the meme, and it's for reasons ably articulated by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emrinalexander and lexin and their associates.
On the subject of silence or non-participation and what that implies, though, I'll tell you a story.
When I was in college, annually during Pride Week signs would go up saying something like "This Friday, if you support gay rights, wear jeans." So, right, the proportion of college students who normally wears blue jeans without even thinking about it is fairly high -- this was the point. Agreeing that people should have equal rights under the law should be as common as putting pants on. There were some people who deliberately didn't wear jeans that day (and always some people who forgot, or didn't have jeans, or whatever), but the point was made.
My sophomore year, on the day in question, in a high-traffic area of campus, someone had chalked all over the sidewalk: "Today, if you don't support gay rights, wear shoes." It was mean, but not stupid, I'll give them that; the game can be played by at least two, after all. But the Department of Public Safety got on it, and maintenance came along to clean it up*, and some people were upset, sure, but the greatest thing was this:
A lot of people, rather than make a huge stink about it, simply took off their shoes.
*My hope is that they cleaned it up because it was chalk on the ground rather than a sign taped on a wall, and not because it was mean -- it wasn't actually inciting to violence, after all, and wrong opinions expressed non-violently shouldn't be stifled. Rules about where and in what medium students could post their messages, however, were generally uniformly enforced.
emrinalexander and lexin and their associates.On the subject of silence or non-participation and what that implies, though, I'll tell you a story.
When I was in college, annually during Pride Week signs would go up saying something like "This Friday, if you support gay rights, wear jeans." So, right, the proportion of college students who normally wears blue jeans without even thinking about it is fairly high -- this was the point. Agreeing that people should have equal rights under the law should be as common as putting pants on. There were some people who deliberately didn't wear jeans that day (and always some people who forgot, or didn't have jeans, or whatever), but the point was made.
My sophomore year, on the day in question, in a high-traffic area of campus, someone had chalked all over the sidewalk: "Today, if you don't support gay rights, wear shoes." It was mean, but not stupid, I'll give them that; the game can be played by at least two, after all. But the Department of Public Safety got on it, and maintenance came along to clean it up*, and some people were upset, sure, but the greatest thing was this:
A lot of people, rather than make a huge stink about it, simply took off their shoes.
*My hope is that they cleaned it up because it was chalk on the ground rather than a sign taped on a wall, and not because it was mean -- it wasn't actually inciting to violence, after all, and wrong opinions expressed non-violently shouldn't be stifled. Rules about where and in what medium students could post their messages, however, were generally uniformly enforced.
