Soldiers of Love
It has been very exciting to see the gays get worked up from coast to coast this week. I think the passage of Prop. 8 was some kind of tipping point. One day we'll figure out what started this fire, but for now it's good to see that the gays and the post-gays have realized we weren't so well thought of as we thought we were. Everyone wants to be comfortable, or to feel comfortable, and perhaps seeing such success on behalf of the Yes on 8 h8rs was upsetting enough to shake us into action.
You can learn where to find your nearest Saturday protest is at Join the Impact. The protests will be everywhere, and it's going to be huge. I think it's more empowering for us to do for ourselves this time. Don't wait for the bloated institutionalized bureaucracy to do it for us. Stop throwing your money at the wall, get up and get actively, physically involved. But if you think attending a black tie event with all your close friends will solve your problems, by all means keep doing that.
Jocko has some good points about who we should be blaming for all the H8 of late. It's not just Mormons, but also some Catholic organizations and our old friends at the American Family Association. That said, if we were to boycott everything Mormon, we'd have to cut out all of the following, according to former blogger Chris:
- Don't stay at Marriott hotels.
- Don't watch Battlestar Galactica (fascinating background info).
- Don't see the new Twilight movie or read the books.
- Don't buy the new Killers CD.
- Don't buy David Archuleta's new CD.
- Don't stay at La Quinta Inns.
- Don't buy Oakley products.
- Don't fly JetBlue.
- Don't support gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm.
- Don't buy Black & Decker products.
- Don't buy any music by Gladys Knight.
- And above all else, no more Osmonds!
I honestly don't think I can cut Battlestar Galactica out of my life, at least not until this season starts up again. Long ago my ex dragged me to see Donny Osmond in concert at Wolf Trap. I ended up being very impressed - the guy is a pro at his craft. At one point during his "Soldier of Love" number he was walking/balancing on the top of the narrow wall that separates the orchestra pit from the audience. He slipped and fell on his ass/tailbone but didn't miss a note. I was watching his lips and it wasn't a vocal track. The dude didn't even flinch. That's one awesome pair of magic underpants that broke his fall. Perhaps his Sacred Emotion saved him too.
Apparently the Mormons are shocked that people are angry with them. While I don't think an all-Mormon boycott will work, it's good to see that the protests are giving them a glimmer of understanding of how their efforts have affected other human beings. All I can say is enjoy this public affairs crisis, bitches! I'll write a case study paper about it later - let's see how you handle this. It's going to get much worse before it gets better. From a professional public affairs point of view, y'all look like a bunch of meanie douche bags.
Finally, if you don't see a reason to protest, read some Dogpoet to learn Twenty Reasons to Join the Impact. I agree with all of them.
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Interesting facts:
Mormon owned/operated Marriott is one of the biggest distributors of porn (via hotel room Pay-per-view) in the nation....
Mormons didn't end up in the Salt Lake Valley because they happened to think it was scenic....they were beaten and even slaughtered for being "different" (sound familiar?) and had to flee thousands of miles for safety. Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, was a living re-definition of the institution of marriage with his multiple wives
Fast forward some 150 years and the oppressed have become the oppressors, attacking those they deem "different" while censoring their own history away in the process...
The BSG writer needs to figure out the difference between tenets and tenants. Apparently the Mormons have lots of renters.
If I was going to suggest anything, it's that people look up what the Mormons are up to with Holocaust survivors, and anyone else who is dead. They are re-baptizing people as Mormons, against their wishes or what they likely would have wanted. Even as an unreligious person, I don't think it could be creepier unless they were digging people up first.
Catholics are on the hook just as much. Is it just that people are accustomed to the Catholic church's hierarchy's parade o' hate that they're getting a pass this time? Evangelicals ditto.
We are having two protests in Tucson- that's almost like a polygamous protest!!!
Hmmm. That boycott list...??
- Oakley is a 100% subsidiary of Italian Luxottica group.
- Marriott is actually among the most gay-friendly employers in the nation.
A good guide on where to spend your money, and where not, is the "Corporate Equality Index", published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), see here: http://www.hrc.org/documents/HRC_Corporate_Equality_Index_2009.pdf
In summary:
* Go to Best Buy (100%), not to Circuit City (55%)
* Buy a computer from Dell, HP or Apple (100%), not from Acer (50%)
* Buy airline tickets from Orbitz (100%), not from Expedia (50%)
* Don't buy a Nissan (50%); GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota all score 100%
* Staples (93) over Office Depot (60)
* Target (100%) over WalMart (40%)
* AT&T and Sprint score 100%, Verizon only 70
* Hotel chains score pretty good: Starwood (Sheraton, Westin...), Wyndham and Marriott (even though owned by a Mormon) score 100%, Hilton 90.
This way, I can easily reward gay-friendly businesses, voting with my wallet.
Oh, and I forgot: I haven't frequented an Exxon or Mobile gas station in years:
* Chevron, BP (incl. Arco), Shell all score 100%,
* ConocoPhilips ("76") score 60%
* ExxonMobile, for years, have been at the bottom of the list: 0%. True. Zero.
I'd rather push my car than buying gas from them...
That is by far the most powerful anti-prop 8 logo I've seen. I love it!
I don’t get the whole boycott approach either. I agree with the commenter on jockohomo that the point is not to get revenge; it’s to enlighten society by loudly demanding our equal rights. Even if I did agree with boycotting as a tactic here, it’s way too subtle of an approach, especially for someone like Black and Decker. Their products, as are Marriott’s, are distributed world-wide. Do people really think they’re going to even realize it if a few, or even a lot of gay people boycott their products? We just don’t make up that big of a segment of the population. The better approach is to PROTEST, write letters to public officials and newspaper editors and get people, especially the ones who will decide the fate of Prop 8, educated about us. To show them that this proposition succeeded because of lies and distortions by its proponents, and that it marginalizes and dehumanizes a group of people as blacks and women used to be marginalized and dehumanized. To show them that we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!
As far as throwing money at the cause, we’re all broke now anyway, if not because of the election we just went through, it’s because of the economic disaster we’re in the middle of. I do believe money for advertising before an election is important, because silence in response to a vocalized claim is perceived as agreement, no matter how outrageous that claim may be. Elections use advertising to reach into voters’ homes and car radios. But now, no one is going to go to the polls. It’s up to the judicial people and legislators. I agree that the best way to get this dehumanizing and ill-gotten proposition overturned is to protest, write and make A LOT of noise.
And if we're going after the Catholic donors to Prop 8, that was mostly funded by the Knights of Columbus. But they're located in Connecticut, which just allowed gay marriage, so we can't boycott them. I do think we should protest against the KoC in some manner, but not sure what good it would do. KoC is filled with 80 year old white men who we are not going to change.
Printing up a couple of the signs. Will be there tomorrow, come rain or shine!
Going to the local protest here on Saturday, I think it's far more effective putting a face to a movement than just funding TV ads that don't even show gays. I'm not sorry I donated to it I just wish they had made better use of the money.
I will be down at City Hall in New Orleans protesting Proposition 8! It is a shame that some of my friends are not going because they don't want their faces shown by the local news media. Yes, there is still a fear of being discriminated for your sexual orientation down here in Louisiana.
Glen A Larson.. creator of Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider & producer of Buck Rogers in the 25th century
He was born and raised Mormon, but by the mid 1970s he had left the Mormon faith. He used his "cultural" influence of being raised Mormon, to Create Galactica... infact if you take the time to read the book of Mormon and then watch the original (and large portions of the new series) Battlestar Galactica you will see paralles to the Book of Mormon. Infact while I was reading the Book Mormon, I noticed if you change certain names to Adama, Starbuck and Apollo. Its the same Fracking Story.
Also if you are going to boycott just because of the creators religious origin.. then We should Boycott, Lord of the Rings (Tolkien was a devote Roman Catholic) Wonder Woman. ( William Marston was raised Catholic) and lets not forget "The Chronicals of Narnia","Anne RIce's Vampire series" "Evil Dead", "Army of Darkness" and a whole bunch of Sci-fi stuff.
Personallly I think the gays need to create a true collective force, there is to much racism, religious-ism etc amoung the gays we need to put aside our own differences. Stop blaming others and become one true community. Then we can truly gain equality
Jimbo
I'll be covering our small direct action in Des Moines. Thanks for the information about Join the Impact. Viral/fractal direct action strategies using the power of the web (and not spa treatments, seaweed wraps, and other idiotic actions for contributions by the HRC) is what our community needs to get new ideas, new vigor and new leadership in the post-gay rights and pre-gay equality era.
"Public affairs" concerns governmental policy issues relating to the public, whereas "public relations" is probably the phrase you meant to use.
Also, I second Dax - it's asinine to boycott BSG since the relationship is tenuous. Boycott it if the production company or the creators donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, but not because the rubric from the original series mirrors the Book of Mormon. That's actually intolerance meeting intolerance, and would stiffen their resolve to keep donating, rather than seeing repercussions and thinking twice about donating to the next campaign of hate.
Ack! Jimbo, I think you may have misrepresented me!
My point of making the list was to illustrate that boycotting everything associated with Mormons is a silly idea and certainly not sustainable. Mormons are everywhere. I am most definitely not giving up Battlestar Galactica!
And FYI to Schorsch: Oakley was founded by Jim Jannard, who is a famous Mormon. I believe he is still their chairman.