Why I Changed My Profile Picture

KONY 2012, End Slavery Now,countless breast cancer awareness campaigns.

They've all had facebook-based social cyberactivism as a primary proponent to their cause.

I've been a critic to this sort of cyberactivism, because it seems to me that it never accomplishes much beyond fulfilling our desire to be ahead of the latest fad. While I generally support the causes these campaigns have been lead for, the method is one I typically don't agree with.

And so, while I believe in marriage equality so passionately, I was set on not setting my profile picture to the now-ubiquitous red equality sign.

It was just too cliche. Everyone was setting it for this two-day Supreme Court case, and then would carry on with their lives as soon as the case was over, no matter the outcome. 

My mind was finally changed when I saw a few responses to this campaign.

Manhattan Declaration, a conservative christian-based page on Facebook, uploaded this picture today.

The caption? "So, you want to talk about equality..."

The image equates the right to marry for gays, which is completely constitutional (and any argument based upon establishment of religion is inherently unconstitutional), to the new "right to life" campaigns following Roe v. Wade. The comparison between these two is completely ludicrous, and offensive. Homosexuality is never a choice, while an abortion can be one. The baby pictured is much further along than 12 weeks, which is the latter bound for 88% of abortions in America. 

I'm not usually one to instantly react to something, especially when it comes to switching my mind about a campaign altogether, but this one moment completely made it clear to me the importance of solidarity for our brothers and sisters on facebook who may not be able to marry under current laws, and who see their rights infringed upon every day they look into their significant other's eyes in the morning, still unmarried.

This is why, a day after the intended switch of facebook pictures, I have changed mine to the red equality sign. 

There have been responses other than just the MD response, including an unequal sign on red, and other red images that say "One Man, One Woman" or a number of other phrases. 

I am proud to be an American, but I think we can do better than just claim equality, can't we? Marriage equality is only a simple civil right, and is in no way true equality, but it's a step in the right direction, and damn right I support it.

I am a student in North Carolina. Last year, I cried out loud when I found out that Amendment 1, which made gay unions in the state of North Carolina illegal by the state's constitution, did indeed get passed. Honestly, I considered transferring to another school because at the time I couldn't imagine myself living in a state that would support such a ridiculous constitutional amendment when the state has already made gay marriage illegal (the amendment also shoots NC residents in the foot in a number of ways, but that's another story altogether). Thankfully, I have changed my mind, but I am still baffled that there are those who still want to bar our brothers and sisters from marrying the one that they love. 

There are arguments from a Christian perspective, but our Constitution states through the First Amendment that "[the government] shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". If you think that gay marriage should be illegal because the Bible says so, then you're arguing against our Constitution. It seems so backwards to have to urge for a Constitutional amendment to allow our LGBTQ brethren to marry, when the Constitution - the basis for our laws and the foundation of our polity - explicitly states no religion shall be established as law or discriminated against by law. Your neighbor Mark marrying his partner of 10 years, Jim, does not affect you directly. And if you think that what he is doing is something immoral, then you've got to realize that if he isn't harming himself or anyone else, you have no right to make his actions illegal on simply "moral" grounds. 

Wouldn't Jesus want us to care about our neighbors though? Christ spent his time with the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the lepers - all the people deemed "evil" or "unclean" by the Pharisees and the people. If the goal of a Christian life is to be more Christ-like, I can think of nothing more Christian than loving your neighbor, even if his view of marriage differs from yours. The fact is, he is creating love in his life, and Jesus supports love. 

Last Updated: 3/27/2012 4:54