Is this signature line image too "controversial" for DU?

[Terran]

"Controversial" being quoted from the new rules.

I know we all have more important things to discuss, bu I'm interested in opinions from my people before I tempt the Fates (a.k.a., the Mods).



I could always take the wording away; does that make it confrontational?

[SteppingRazor]

1. Um... I don't even know what that is. What's it a picture of?

[bufffbison]

2. i think its two guys kissing

[swimboy]

3. My eyes! MY EYES!!! (sarcasm)

[Terran]

13. LOL!

Yeah, seeing two men making out will do that.

[SteppingRazor]

4. Oh yeah! I see it now.

Well, given that here appears to be tongue and lots of sweat, I'd say it's a little iffy. Just thinking that a similar hetero- image would probably be complained about as well, so lord knows what someone will have to say about this, even on a site as open-minded as DU.

Caveat emptor: This opinion brought to you by a straight guy. Gay opinion may vary. Offer not valid in red states.

[Terran]

7. That's kind of what I thought

I've never seen a similar image with starights in it. But I do view it as making a political statement, which a heterosexual version would not, at least not in the same way.

[SteppingRazor]

8. That I certainly agree with...

It does make a political statement -- in that sense, I would certainly keep the text next to it.

[LizMoonstar]

5. once i figured out what it was, i thought, 'classy-looking', myself. n/t

[Terran]

11. Hey thanks!

It's something I just threw together! :)

[Nomad559]

6. I think they

are both to large for the new DU size limits.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=announcement&id=173

[Terran]

9. dimensionally they're okay but

both are slightly too large in file size, by about 10K. I can always work on that, although "Timeline Terror" can't get much smaller and stay readable.

[davidinalameda]

10. I prefer the first one

and I don't think it's too big

[Terran]

12. The second one is actually in use currently

My attempt at cleverness, but it's hard to undertstand when it's that small (supposed to be two hunky parallel universe adventurers who wind up on our Earth and find it not to their liking).

So you don't think the kissing is too much? I value your opinion, dwickham.

[Meldread]

14. It's kinda hard to tell...

...but do I see some tongue? Aside from the fact that I don't like the coloring I think it might be more effective if you could find a picture of two REAL men kissing at a wedding ceremony. Then have "GET USED TO IT" on the side. Would probably better display (and more humanize) what you're going for.

Just my opinion, but I feel humanizing the whole issue is important. Cartoon characters make it more abstract.

[swimboy]

15. I think you have a good point about real people.

[Boomer]

16. This is a gay image you WANT to promote?

This might be appropriate for the singles section of a gay magazine, were men are trying to hook up with a sex partner, but I find it inappropriate for a political forum. The sexual imagery overshadows the political message and it basically comes off a hostile, "F*ck you."

Sometimes that message is called for, but is DU really the place?

To my mind, it also emphasizes that gay civil rights is somehow all about who we screw. That being gay is just about sex. That's a stereotype I've been fighting all my life, and it's really depressing to see gays promoting it right back at the straight majority.

Just wonder if this is yet another "he said, she said" of the very different sensibilities of men and women, even when we're both queer.

[Meldread]

17. I agree.

I dislike having to combat the constant stereotype that somehow, every gay male is somehow a nymphomaniac. I can understand why those on the outside would perceive us as such, considering the whole debate is over who is screwing who in the privacy of their own home. Plus, it's not like we, as a community, have done a lot to combat that image.

What bothers me the most about it is that it devalues and oversimplifies our relationships. Like, somehow, a gay relationship is not as emotionally deep or as emotionally rewarding as a straight one. This is bad especially when arguing for the right to marry.

Below are a few images I got on a quick Google search that I think would be more fitting for the message.

If you still want to use a cartoon with the same caption then something like this might be a better fit:


A nice caption for this one might be, "This is who you hurt when you oppose gay marriage":






...those are just some I found quickly on Google. I just can't stress humanizing the whole issue enough. I particularly like the second picture, the interracial lesbian couple with a child. They just look like someone you would know and be friends with.

[Boomer]

18. I'm not someone who is overly sentimental...

But the photo of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon makes me tear up everytime I see it.

That's exactly the kind of image I want to see put in front of straight America every day, not two sweaty guys sticking their tongues inside each others throats. It's vulgar in a public setting like a political forum, just as I think the image of a man and woman playing tonsil hockey is out of place here as well.

Fine, you want to screw each other like bunnies, please just do it inside so I don't have to watch when I'm not in the mood. Like tonight, I have a headache....

[Terran]

19. Thank you for your input.

Let me clarify:

I didn't mean the imagery to be sexual, per se, and I don't believe it is. It's meant to convey something basic, elemental and political: that we are who we are, and this is the thing we do that makes us different. The wording is the last phrase of that chant, "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" I have always found that a very satisfying thing to say and hear, because it's uncompromising and makes no bones about being gay.

My intention was be somewhat radical with the image. The image is not supposed to be about civil rights; it's just meant to be an in-your-face statement about our existence. I'm well aware of the desire to appear "normal" to the straight world, and I value and respect that, but I'm also sick of apologizing for other aspects of being a gay man. To the extent the image is sexual (and I think you assume too much by a kiss), it's meant to reflect the fact that gay male culture *is* more sexual in nature other parts of American culture.

I think perhaps there is something of "she said, he said" here. Showing images of gay couples is fine (I am part of an interracial couple going on 20 years now), but that's not the argument I meant to make. Such images constitute the mainstream high road route to acceptance. I guess I'm being a bomb-throwing anarchist lurking in the shadows at the moment. The worse things get in the US, the more I feel confrontational about things.

Anyway, I probably won't use it because I don't think the mods will accept it for very long.

[theHandpuppet]

21. I agree with some of the other posters here

The image overwhelms the message. It looks more like an ad in a gay club mag and may actually have a negative impact.

[ibegurpard]

20. LOL! It took me a minute

to figure out what the first thing was a picture of.