Longwood University students, faculty and staff are participating in a national civil rights movement for the modern age — a social media profile picture campaign supporting marriage equality.
Last week, the Supreme Court held hearings about the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Proposition 8 bans gay marriage and DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Same-sex couples who are married in their states are currently denied federal rights. According to abcnews.com, the most recent polls showed that the majority of Americans were in favor of legalizing gay marriage.
Many groups have formed allies to advocate for gay marriage. Recently, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has been a prominent force on social media like Facebook and Twitter. The HRC website stated that they represent a force of 1.5 million members, making them the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.
Since last Monday afternoon when the original red and pink equal sign symbol was posted on the HRC Facebook page, it has been viewed by more than 9 million people and shared more than 77,000 times just from their Facebook page.
Longwood students Jamie Rule, freshman, and John McCullough, junior, participated in making the red and pink equal sign symbol their profile picture.
“I think it spread pretty easily on campus because our generation is a lot more accepting of it, but also because we pretty much live on social media,” Rule said.
On the other hand, McCullough changed his profile picture to the logo to show support for some of his family members who are gay.
Junior Hilary Gladstone, co-chair of the Student Diversity and Inclusion Council, said that social media is good for answering questions that anyone might have. For example, Gladstone said, “One girl asked how gay marriage was different from allowing incest or polygamy ... So I went into the whole biology of it. The girl still asked, ‘What about incest?’ And I replied, ‘What about it? If I marry my sister, how is it honestly going to affect you?’”
Dr. Naomi Johnson, chair of the Communication Studies Department, said, “I think it [using the HRC campaign symbol as a Facebook profile picture] is a simple way of identifying that you are a part of a majority and knowing who else feels the same way you do without even having to talk about it. It’s a really important way for people to collaborate and to work together in order to recognize those civil rights and to feel supported by others around them.”
While social media is useful to develop a better idea of public opinion and to organize with others, it can also cause troublesome quarrels. Gladstone said she has ended friendships over intolerant views.
“I am respectful about it if you are respectful about it,” Gladstone said. “But if you are going to be really militant about it, then that is not going to work out.”
Likewise, McCullough had an argument with some family members over the issue last week. McCullough has a couple of gay uncles, both on his father’s side. One of his uncles posted a status which displayed his belief in the “biblical” definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
“We all got into it. The thing for me is that my gay uncle cannot even go to his own brother for support and it threw me over the edge,” stated McCullough.
Johnsonteachesgenderand sexuality as a part of her teaching in communication studies. Johnson said, “I think many others have said that this is an important civil rights issue and it has been too long ignored.” Similarly, Gladstone believes that it is a human right to get married, and all people should have the same privileges.
Johnson, Gladstone and Rule had similar backgrounds in growing up in families that support marriage equality.
“My parents always taught me that no matter what the color of your skin is or your sexuality or your religious beliefs that you deserve to be treated the same as everybody else and that you deserve to be treated fairly with the same rights,” said Johnson.
Rule grew up in a family with fervent conservative beliefs and attended Catholic school. Yet, “my parents raised me to know that nothing was wrong with it [gay marriage] and that there is no problem with it and we accept who we are. Everyone in my family feels this way, so I just grew up never knowing why it would be wrong.”
Rule and Gladstone agreed that parents should be accepting of their children’s identity and mentioned different friends who had to come out to their parents. One story was about a bisexual woman who has not come out to her parents because they are not accepting, and as a result, she cannot get birth control or any form of contraceptive.
Another story was about a couple of friends who eventually did come out to their parents about their sexuality and faced welcoming responses.
The Supreme Court rulings will announce the results of Proposition 8 and DOMA at the end of June. For Proposition 8 to win there has to be a justification that does not depend on hostility toward gay people. In the United States, nine states authorize same-sex marriage. Currently, DOMA denies same-sex couples more than 1,000 federal rights and benefits.
“Our country was founded on this idea of equality, so I see it as something fitting in with the founding principles of our country,” Johnson said. “If a couple makes a commitment, everyone should have the same sort of benefits. That’s fair.”
