Just Say No to That's So Gay

Just look around the world. Do we need heroes today? You bet we do, but they don't come to us from far away planets. Nor are they created from being infected with DNA-altering isotopes. They are ordinary people who do the extraordinary, often because they have the strength and wisdom to do what is right instead of what is common or popular.

My high school students, like many around the country, use the expression "That's so gay" to ridicule and criticize, and I have struggled with very limited success to convince them how hurtful and insulting it is. This summer I decided to put together a video to combat this practice with a multimedia approach. The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and the Ad Council created some wonderful PSA's to encourage people to challenge the use of this expression, but I wanted to go further. Asking high school students to challenge their peers' behavior is asking for heroism, so I needed to make a case for asking my students to become heroes.

In hindsight everyone sees how narrow-minded it was to believe black people and white people couldn't attend the same schools, and none of my students would ever think of supporting segregation. So I looked for images of young people from the Civil Rights era they could identify with, like 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford from Little Rock, Arkansas. With an angry crowd surrounding her and yelling at her, she looks scared and vulnerable, just like all teenagers feel when challenging their peers.

Will.i.Am's music from the movie "Freedom Writers" provides the musical inspiration, connecting the Civil Rights movement with contemporary high school students struggling for respect. "Colors" asks listeners to stand for what is right instead of rolling over and meekly accepting injustice.

Some people may object to the slogan "Gay is the new Black," but ultimately it's the same fight: a minority's quest for respect and acceptance from an intolerant majority. The picture of separate drinking fountains from the Jim Crow South and the cartoon ridiculing the idea of civil unions as being equal to marriage illustrate this well. If that isn't enough though, I included a sequence of pictures showing the huge crowds from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, the recent protests against California's Proposition 8, and finally a young man questioning how far we've really come toward a more tolerant, open society.

The quote from Mahatma Gandhi that I used says that the world will only change when we decide to make it change, so my video asks my students to be heroes. That is what it will take, and I have faith they can do it.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• that's so gay
• tolerance
• prejudice
• homophobia
• Elizabeth Eckford
• Leonard Matlovich
• Freedom Riders
• James Peck
• Colors
• Will.i.am
• Wanda Sykes
• Hillary Duff
• GLSEN
• gay marriage
• civil unions
• gay rights
• civil rights
• Little Rock Nine
• Prop. 8

[misskimoune]

What's the name of the song that says : stan for something , don't fall for nothing .. ? :O

[johnboegman]

@misskimoune That song is called "Colors" by Will.i.am It was identified in the closing credits.

[roquefort88888]

"In hindsight everyone sees how narrow-minded it was to believe black people and white people couldn't attend the same schools, and none of my students would ever think of supporting segregation"

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No - nor would they, presumably, suggest segregation for homosexual and heterosexual people. But they might well use a phrase like "This was a black day for the economy." Would you have a problem with that?

[johnboegman]

@roquefort88888 I don't use the word "black" in that context. More importantly, if you had a problem with the word used in that context I would understand why. If you had a big enough problem with that usage, you might even go to some lengths to persuade others that it is insensitive as well. For example, you might make a video to put on YouTube showing examples of the way the word "black" has gained negative connotations which offend some people.

[pewpewpewlazers17]

this is soo gay..

[TheTrutalk]

Religion does not cause homophobia, its common sense. Hello did it not take a man and a woman to bring you to life? Mother nature made a man and a woman to procreate. lets say you lived in a world with just gay man, how long will that last? you guys cannot have babies. Please im tired of people wanting me to accept something that even with religion aside does not make sense. I dont want to insult anyone but this commercials on TV are just annoying.

[GTCism]

This video is the voice of the left wing, liberal minded, political correct, marxist/socilaist bunch of creeps. Time to shut that bunch up, they are nothing but trouble and if they are not put in their place soon, we are all going to pay in one way or another.

[GTCism]

Give the word gay back, everyone, it means to be happy or merry! Did that funny looking statue look like that? Did that female queer look that way? I think not.

[poosaypirate]

@im5000degrezz neither can old people, so being old is DISGUSTING and a a waste of time at least gays could adopt, if your are old its not really worth it because if you are on retirement you cant work and couldn't afford besides you are ready to die

that said CHRISTIANITY IS A LIFESTYLE OF CHOICE AND SHOULD BE BANNED AND OUTLAWED

[julivuela]

@im5000degrezz Yeah as if you had a choice, man. -.- do you really think anyone says "Hey I'm gonna get gay now because I think it's cool." ?

Or "Hey I'm gonna stop being gay now because it's a waste of time..." And Baamm they're streight? I think it's you who shouldn't be able to reproduce.

[YaoGuaiBear]

@fredluver12 I'm NOT gay and I hate when people say "Gay" like it's a bad thing...

[CATcaralili]

@im5000degrezz Good, the world is already overcrowded.

[TheTracyPaul]

@vidyogamasta it's insulting to people who are gay....just like the word 'retarded'.....people need to stop being so ignorant.

[TheTracyPaul]

@TheTrutalk you can't accept it because it doesn't make sense to you.....that's your key statement. All discrimination is based on fear of the unknown and ignorance. If you spent some time getting to know a person who's sexual orientation is different....just get to know the person (their sexuality is such a small part of who they are). You'll see they were born that way. That's their normal. They are not able to 'procreate' - but I think relationships go a bit deeper than that functionality

[TheTracyPaul]

@im5000degrezz omg...how ignorant of you. Sad really.