Changing the Framing

Another comment from Petrelis that touches on something dear to my heart:

The gay community's political dollars are wisely spent giving Castro gay men something they sorely lack -- young male eye-candy on the street. Thanks, Joe Solmonese, for filling the gaping hole in gay male political advocacy and stuffing that hole with imagery advancing equality and fairness.

I don't agree. I mean, I agree about the general effectiveness of HRC, but I like the idea of ads such as this one, except that I think they should be in bus stops in Wichita, not the Castro. First, it would cause a huge outcry on the Christianist right -- why, James Dobson would probably call for a boycott of the HRC -- but, second, they would also bring an image of "gay" to America that is a little closer to reality (only a little closer, but still. . . .).

Images such as this one reshape perceptions. It's like the image I included at the end of my Pride post, with the two young men together watching the parade: two men, unabashedly and unashamedly together, with no apologies and no need to justify themselves. The country neeeds to see more of that.