When I called in sick to work on Wednesday two weeks ago with a fever, a handful of my colleagues e-mailed me articles about calling in "gay" for A Day Without A Gay. Although I had accepted an invitation to participate on Facebook, I was not really planning on ditching work and protesting. Apparently, I was not the only one on the sidelines as the AP reports that only few were actually willing to protest.
A Day Without A Gay was inspired by independent movie A Day Without A Mexican. In the latter, Californians wake up one day to find millions of Mexican immigrants have disappeared. The impact on the day to day status of the state is immense, with businesses falling apart, trash accumulating to create unsanitary conditions, etc. The creators of A Day Without a Gay liked the idea of showcasing the gay community this way as well simply because many don't realize the large number of people who make up our community, and protest anti-gay marriage laws.
Many critics have commented on the economic timing of the protest and claim that people are less likely to risk their jobs when there are no other jobs for them. The creators of the protest saw the poor state of the economy as an advantage in which gays and lesbians would have a larger economic impact.
Were the number of people who protested large enough to make a difference? Or were they too small to make an impact and be laughed at instead? Did we really affect change?
I consider the viral aspect of the communications campaign of A Day Without A Gay. It used viral marketing tactics to promote and generate support. It caught the attention of media giant CNN and local California and national bloggers. It formed partnerships with grassroots organizations who collaborated to assign December 10 as The Day Without Gays. All in all, a success when you consider its viral, grassroots and social media tactics, but as my colleague Bryan mentions, it lacked campaign focus.
So why the harsh criticism? I think it's just poor timing for two main reasons: one being the economy and the fears that come with it, and the other is the holiday time frame. People shop more than ever during this time of the year. Do you agree? Did you chose to or not to participate in this cause?
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