To think there is a slightly homophobic reaction going on to the rainbow profile pics?

[hudyerwheesht]

I’m seeing an increasing amount of sarky MEME’s on FB basically bitching about the rainbow profile pictures and it’s rubbing me up the wrong way. Yes, I know people get annoyed at fads on FB and I get that but what exactly is wrong about wanting to celebrate the change in law in the States and show support?

And even if people are bandwagon-jumping – who fucking cares if it raises awareness/increases support?

There was an exceptional amount of bandwagon-jumping during the no make-up selfies and ice bucket challenges with the majority of people not even donating but no-one seemed to take issue with that.

Yes, I know, obviously different type of cause entirely but still...

AIBU to think therefore if it's not the joining of a fad that's annoying people but actual support of Pride/same sex marriage rights then that's dangerously close to homophobia? Or am I making a leap that isn’t there?

I’ve even seen one going around “supporting Straight Pride” – how ridiculous. If people can’t understand how much it not the same thing then I despair.

And yes, I’ve seen the other thread about the MEME joking about paedophiles changing their profile pics to rainbows – utterly vile and not the least bit funny imo.

Somehow lost the first part of my post:

Throughout the whole of the ice bucket/no make up fads I saw a grand total of one MEME taking the piss out of it

I suppose there are very few misguided souls out there who believe that someone succumbing to a life-limiting disease is a matter of choice, whereas there are those who believe that being gay and choosing to marry are both 'lifestyle' choices which people don't need to make. Very few people can disagree with increasing awareness of an illness, whereas the fact that people believe that homosexuality is in some way a moral issue divides nations.

Can I please make you all take a look at this article - love this guy's reaction to his disgruntled anti-gay marriage customers after he rainbowed up his profile picture!

Good point GooGoo. and I can see why people would say that but if no rainbow profile pic thing was set up in the UK then there was nothing to actually follow. If there had been, I would have shown my support there too.

I think I'm just struggling to understand why people have an issue with others supporting a some causes but not others therefore wondering what the actual feeling behind it is. I'm glad if it is more about the fad-annoyance than equal rights support annoyance.

Personally, I don't care if people want to join in the fad if it means more awareness,etc, which is why it would have been better beforehand, as I said.

There are news articles saying it was a dupe and 1 million people did it', others that Facebook did it to track support of gay marriage yards yada.

I don't care tbh, 26 million people did this, I support gay marriage, it also coincided with London Gay pride. I changed my profile picture to one of me and my best friend and I turned it rainbow with Pride!!

Let the haters hate, I got snidely comments, it didn't ruin my day not deter me.

That's good Takein - I liked Arnold Swarzenegger's comment to someone on his FB page saying he would unfriend him now: "hasta la vista baby"

There are still a lot of people out there with anti lesbian and gay beliefs.

thanks for the update Yo!

I saw a vast amount of criticism of the 'no makeup selfie' stuff - probably more criticism than pictures (how was it brave? what had it to do with cancer? the fact that the charity donations only started after there was a massive shitstorm about the pointlessness of it all).

(An example: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/21/no-make-up-selfie-facebook-beat-cancer-research-meme )

Either way, why do you keep writing 'MEME' instead of 'meme'? It's not an acronym; it was a word coined by Richard Dawkins to refer to a unit of cultural transmission (as a gene is the unit of biological transmission) and derived from a Greek word referring to 'something that is imitated'.

Ah, Ok badtime - I didn't know that. (Richard Dawkins coined it - who knew?!)

^that's not sarcasm, I'm happy to be corrected.

There may have been criticism in general of the other fads, I just meant I never saw any on my FB newsfeed.

Obviously I should get off there and go read something educational.

While we're bring educational. ..

It existed before this week. A couple of interns developed it and it had been used internally for a bit, then one of the VPs who happens to be gay suggested it might be good to have it roll out in time for Pride (which FB is very involved with locally). The version that was released was only beta but it was too good an opportunity to miss when the SCOTUS decision slightly unexpectedly went the right way, and they launched immediately.

I haven't seen any UK criticism of the fad, and certainly not on my facebook where it looked like a skittles factory had exploded.

I did think it was very odd for UK people to be using the filter to such an extent, until I realised that it coincided with gay pride weekend. That makes sense.

I don't know about the underlying motives of your friends - they're your friends after all. However, I don't think criticising a particular fad means you are against the principle that it is representing, or supposedly representing. It's not like facebook made a donation to a gay right's charity for everyone that used the filter or whatnot.

I didn't use the filter as I didn't see the point and couldn't be arsed. It doesn't mean I'm any less supportive of gay rights than before I had the option to use it.

I feel a little about them, just because on my friends list I have a number of gay people and others who I know to have gay friends and they hardly have the rainbow thing on their pictures.

Meanwhile, people I knew at school who would take the piss out of other gay pupils and throw around homophobic insults like it was nothing all seem to have it.

So from my perspective it seems like it's being misused as a fashion statement.

Perhaps done of the snarking is fuelled by latent homophobia. That is a distinct possibility (especially for people posting "straight pride," nonsense.

However, my unease with this sort of herd response is that it all seems to be designed to show how much you care, to demonstrate to the world at large what a right on, caring individual you are. I think that when many people (not all) post these things (unless they have a direct connection with the cause) they are essentially trying to make it about them. It brings to mind when that poor little girl in Wales was taken. All the pink ribbon stuff on FB was random strangers making it about them and showing the world how much they cared. It's pretty hideous if you think about it although it does illustrate how social media is underpinned by people being incredibly self interested. It was created as a tool to keep in touch with others and has turned into this narcissim fuelled monster.

Yes, I have seen FB friends who are not friends by choice (inlaws) who I know are rabidly homophobic that have done it.

I think a lot of the snarky responses are anti American rather than anti gay. I think some people resent that because it's America we're all supposed to sit up and applaud their awesomeness.

I think it can be more than just a case of showing off.

Lots of people changed for SCOTUS and Pride and the sheer wave of it showed that most people were glad - not just the small proportion who actively campaigned on either side. Legislation that has tacit support from a majority is more likely to result in actual societal change.

A young person thinking about coming out sees that a great proportion of his FB friends are displaying a rainbow, including his slightly scary uncle and his mum. He doesn't want to have a conversation about being gay in general, but now he has a vague idea who is generally cool without having to ask.

Facebook is bad at many things, but it is fairly good at LGBT on the whole.

I ddnt do makeup free selfies, nor the ice bucket challenge
I dont post cryptic statuses about bra colours or locations of handbags

I havent rainbow-ised my profile picture.
They are all the same thing. Slacktivism bandwagon jumping. Nice sentiment and all, but entirely pointless. And raising awareness of what exactly?

I'm quite sure i'm not homophobic, but maybe you know something i dont?? So umm imo, yabu.

But isn't it enough for people just to be glad? (I was.) Why do they have to show it? It's almost a bit oppressive. People think they have to be seen to care. Just caring is no longer sufficient.

Well, I think I've just talked myself into FB suicide ????

^ What Mrshathaway said. Particularly to the pp who asked if it had magical powers.

I have a rainbow filter on my profile pic. While looking at some pics on facebook on sunday my 8 yo asked what all the rainbows were about. It was my opportunity to tell him about gay marriage. It hasn't come up before for us as noone in our circle of close friends/family is gay. Raising awareness - yes. It also shows support for more distant friends who are gay and to show everyone in my facebook group that I support gay marriage and equality generally. Where is the harm.

There is no harm Pixie. But the OPs question was why there were so many piss taking ripostes to the concept - something I have tried to answer. I am only FB friends with people who know me well enough to know I support equality with every fibre of my being. I don't need to alter my profile pic to "show" my support to a whole load of people I don't know.

One of my gay friends (who is also American) posted her wedding pictures from several years back with the rainbow filter. I totally got that and I was thrilled for both of them.

It's when people who don't have that type of connection engage in this behaviour that I wonder at the pointlessness of it all. You could have had the same conversation with your son after watching the news or listening to the radio. I explained to my 7 year old a while ago during the gay marriage debate in this country that some people believe that some types of love aren't equal to others and that was rather silly. He's on the same page. We didn't need social media as a prompt.

I have no problem with people not wanting to join in, that's fine. I do have facebook friends who are from school and who I don't see regularly or people who I used to be friendly with in the pub a good few years ago and say hello to but rarely chat. I have been surprised at the views of some - racist jokes, anti imigration, homophobic and have unfriended them as a result. Some of the ones left post things I disagree with thinking them jokey or supporting causes I don't. I in turn post things I find funny and causes I do support. I am anti ukip, support animal rights and am pro breastfeeding. I post links to stuff I find interesting and read some of what others post (whether I agree or not).

I don't watch much news on TV so the subject hadn't come up for us before. I read the news online. Yes I could sit my son down to discuss gay marriage but find most subjects come up naturally in due course and when they do, you have a better discussion (like after seeing something on TV, facebook or it being mentioned by a friend or in school).

In response to the OP, I havent seen any negativity about the rainbows on facebook. The first mention of it for me is this thread.

Even if these people were being "slightly homophobic" about the rainbow filters how do you propose to correct their views OP?

Pull out their fingernails until they have changed their minds?

As pp have said, if they wanted to use these filters they would. They have their own minds as you have yours.

I am not on FB as I think most of it is hooey. Writing on a computer bears no relation to your behaviour in the real world.

I see a grand total of none of you care to make comment that equal marriage rights do not currently exist across the UK.