afterelton.com

POP QUIZ – WHAT IS THE ‘NOH8′ CAMPAIGN ABOUT?

A. BEING NICER TO HOMOS?
B. ENDING THE LACK OF RIGHTS FOR GAY PEOPLE IN AMERICA?
C. ENDING BULLYING OF GLBT TEENAGERS AROUND THE WORLD?
D. STOPPING GAY PEOPLE FROM TALKING?
E. BRINGING ATTENTION TO PROPOSITION 8 IN ONE STATE?

IF YOU ANSWERED E, CORRECT. HERE IS THE OFFICIAL GUFF ON WHAT NOH8 IS ‘FIGHTING’ FROM THEIR WEBSITE…….

On November 4, 2008 Proposition 8 passed in California, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The defeat provoked a groundswell of initiative within the GLBT community at a grassroots level, with many new political and protest organizations being formed in response.

The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with “NOH8″ painted on one cheek in protest.

Three years since its inception, the NOH8 Campaign has grown to over 18,000 faces and continues to grow at an exponential rate. The campaign began with portraits of everyday Californians from all walks of life and soon rose to include politicians, military personnel, newlyweds, law enforcement, artists, celebrities, and many more.

SO MANY ISSUES, BUT FIRST, WHY SILENT? THIS HAS NEVER MADE ANY SENSE TO ME, AND EVEN BOUSKA HIMSELF CONTRADICTS HIMSELF IN AN INTERVIEW WITH AFTERELTON.COM………

AE: The NOH8 Campaign has been such a big part of everybody’s lives for the last few years. Silly question, but did you ever foresee it to grow to what it has?

AB: Not at all. Originally it was just something amongst me, my partner (Jeff Parshley) and a few friends, and it was just to speak out.

But later we saw people kind of using this as a tool to speak out on their social networks and more people wanting to get involved. And we saw the kind of success it could create in the mainstream. It never was intended to be this big organization. But now that we’ve had that first wind I guess it kind of inspired us to really do as much as we can with it.

YES, THAT IS CORRECT ADAM. PEOPLE NEED TO TALK AND SPREAD THE WORD. BUT WHAT WHEN THE MESSAGE IS SO MUDDLED? PEOPLE ON TWITTER, GENERALLY WELL MEANING BUT STUPID TEENS, JUST TOTALLY BELIEVE ‘NOH8′ IS ABOUT ENDING OPPRESSION AND HATRED OF GLTB PEOPLE. WHICH ACTUALLY MAKES A FUCK LOAD MORE SENSE FOR THE CAMPAIGN TO BE ABOUT THAT RATHER THAN A SINGLE PIECE OF LEGISLATION IN ONE STATE. IT WOULD HAVE MORE USE IF THEY ARE SO OBSESSED WITH GAY RIGHTS BEING ATTACHED TO MARRIAGE THEN IT WAS ABOUT LEGISLATION THAT AFFECTED THE WHOLE COUNTRY RATHER THAN ONE STATE. IT WOULD BE NICE IF THE PEOPLE WHO POSE FOR THE PHOTOS WERE NOT ALL FUCKING PERFECT AND MAYBE SOME OF THEM WERE ACTUALLY GAY, AND NOT ALL OF THE GAY PEOPLE WHO WERE PHOTOGRAPHED WERE PERFECT CLONES. IT WOULD ACTUALLY DO THE CAMPAIGN A GREAT HELP IF GAY PEOPLE WE RESPECTED WOULD DO ADS AND PHOTOS, BUT THEY ARE NOT FOOLS. AND LOOK AT THE CAR CRASHES THEY DO GET, NOT A SINGLE ONE WHO IS GAY…..

AN INSULTING JOKE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL IF THE OWNERS OF THE ‘NOH8′ IDEA HAD REALIZED EARLY ON THAT THIS WAS BIGGER THAN THEM AND GIVEN THE CONTROL OVER TO BRIGHTER PEOPLE WHO MADE IT A WORLD WIDE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MORE THAN JUST GAY MARRIAGE. BUT THEY DID NOT. SO THEY KEEP DOING PHOTOS OF PRETTY PEOPLE, FOCUS IS LOST AND AS THE CAMPAIGN HAS NO AIM, IT WILL JUST KEEP LIMPING ON. SHAME, WHAT A LOST AND WASTED OPPORTUNITY.

READ THE MESS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ADAM HERE.

AND NEXT MONTH, WHY THE COLOSSALLY STUPID FKH8 CAMPAIGN FAILS WITH HAVING 7 YEARS SCREAMING ‘FUCK’.