When it comes to measuring same sex discrimination in society, whether it is testing our society, our community, venues or even ourselves, there is no better ‘canary in the goldmine’ than the same sex public display of affection.
Try using this measure, would you feel safe holding hands in the street, would you not give a second thought to kissing someone of the same gender in a restaurant, would you feel comfortable introducing someone as your boyfriend or girlfriend. If the answer is ever no – whether it is because of the reactions of others or our own self imposed restraint, then there is still inequality at play.
Twenty years ago one of the most popular television programs in the world was LA Law, and it shocked viewers when CJ Lamb played by the awesome Amanda Donohoe kissed fellow cast member Abbie Perkins, played by Michelle Greene. Fast forward today and there have been gay kisses on Neighbours, Home and Away, Glee, Gossip Girl and many others.
But enough about television, what about the real world?
In London last month two young men Jonathan WiIliams and James Bull were out on a date, their first date, they had dinner at a restaurant and then called in for a drink at The John Snow pub in Soho. After a public display of affection the two were asked to leave. In response to this, hundred of gay couples in London staged a kiss in outside the pub a few days later in protest.
Niall O’Conghaile a blogger at the website Dangerous Minds did a quick post about the kiss-in event at the The John Snow Pub. A fellow blogger from Dangerous Minds, Richard Metzger posted his colleague’s story to Facebook. A Facebook ‘friend’ of Meltzger’s complained about the image used on the story, a picture of two men kissing. The image had been borrowed from UK TV series Eastenders. Facebook removed a photograph.
Meltzeger fired off a quick blog post asking why Facebook felt the image was offensive? The Facebook team were quick to respond, it was simply human error – and to their credit they fixed it within hours and answered all media enquiries immediately. But not quick enough… Meltzeger’s post went viral and soon thousands of images of boys kissing boys and girls kissing girls were being highlighted across the social networking platform, one event Kissing is Cool attracting 49,500 virtual attendees.
And yet while we’re quick to respond in the virtual world, you can’t help but wonder if we’ve really travelled that far. How many of us would feel comfortable holding hands walking down Beaufort Street? How about a stroll through one of the more bogan outer suburbs? A kiss at The Court? What about in one of the straighter venues?
On May 21 at 1pm in the Murray Street Mall, Equal Love is holding a rally for same sex marriage, it’s a kiss-in, bring a friend.
Top 10 Songs to download to your ipod for inspiration
1. Kiss Me – Steven Duffy
2. I Kissed a Girl – Jill Sobule
3. K.I.S.S.I.N.G – Sediah Garrett
4. Kiss – Prince
5. Kiss Me – Sixpence None The Richer
6. Let’s Kiss – The Models
7. Kiss On My List – Hall and Oats
8. Kissing You – Desree
9. A Kiss to Build a Dream On – Louis Armstrong
10. Don’t Talk Just Kiss – Right Said Fred
Graeme Watson
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