Equality Matters, an organization working for LGBT equality, launched “Online March for Equality” to coincide with the historic Inaugural activities for President-Elect Barack Obama, scheduled from January 17 to 24. Organizers are asking members of Facebook and other social media sites to change their profile pictures to one of several “badges” created by the group. The badges highlight the critical rights being denied LGBT Americans, including the ability to file joint taxes, make medical decisions for a spouse, sponsor a partner for immigration or receive government benefits such as Social Security.“If the gay community is going to achieve equality, we need to find new ways to educate the American public and reach them where they spend their time. We felt the best way to achieve that was to take advantage of the web and sites like Facebook,” said Bruce Namerow, founder of Equality Matters.
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A March 2008 Witeck-Combs Communications/Harris Interactive poll showed that a majority (57%) of gay adult men online declare they are a member of a social networking web site, compared to 37 percent of heterosexual men. Also, two out of five (42 %) gay and lesbian adults have visited an online social community or network in the last month, compared with roughly a third (32%) of heterosexuals.
Since its launch just over one week ago, the Facebook event has attracted more than 150,000 invited guests with more than 46,000 registering their intent to “attend” this virtual event. The figures continue to grow rapidly and organizers are hopeful that participants will exceed 100,000 before the event begins on January 17.
The power of social networking sites such as Facebook demonstrate why this medium is an ideal way to educate a broader audience on issues such as marriage equality. A London study showed that most Facebook users have an average of 150 people, or “friends,” in their network, meaning that this campaign has the potentially to conservatively reach over 22 million people.
“The goal of the campaign is to ensure people have a dialogue about what rights and benefits LGBT individuals are denied by not being allowed to get married. Gay and straight individuals alike may be unaware that there are 1,138 federal laws in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights and privileges,” Namerow said.
The idea was born after Namerow saw more than 100,000 protesters take to the streets on November 15 – just eleven days after voters in California, Arizona and Florida passed ballot initiatives outlawing same-sex marriage. The Internet and social media sites like Facebook are credited with helping quickly spread the word and making the protests possible.
“News reports said that a main reason Proposition 8 passed in California was that those who supported such a law were never educated about what was really at stake for same sex couples. If more Californians were made aware of the rights and benefits denied same sex couples that are unable to marry, my guess is that there would have been a different outcome in that election,” added Namerow.
While the Facebook event page is the center of the group’s efforts, organizers have also launched a website at www.equalitymatters.org that is intended to educate visitors about the issue. It includes a detailed list of 1,138 rights and responsibilities that are denied gay and lesbian couples by federal law. The number 1,138 comes from a government report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) in 2004 and available for download at the site.
To join the protest and get involved, visit www.equalitymatters.org and follow the four simple steps.
