I understand what GLSEN and the Ad Council are trying to attempt with their “ThinkB4YouSpeak” campaign. GLSEN has successfully organized various anti-bullying campaigns, the Day of Silence (and other ‘Days of Action’ and has resources for students and teachers to start their own Gay-Straight Alliances. 
From someone who has experienced general bullying and (thankfully) very minor anti-gay bullying growing up, it’s a cause worth fighting for.
That said, I think they might be off the mark with this campaign.
Some people, especially who self identify as (hardcore) gamers, are reacting negatively towards the posters for a few different reasons, all of which deal with how people communicate and how they think they are communicating. Similar to the message of my previous post, knowing the vernacular of the day and the constructions behind them is important.
Beyond the awful late 90’s flavor of the B4 within the campaign’s name, there are few things that need to be addressed.
1) Many people aren’t getting the message that the the above posters are trying to impart. The message some people seem to be getting is that:
“Well, if you’re going to call us this and make fun of us, we’re going to do it right back. So there.”
This interpretation is understandable as most teenagers are probably not going to ponder too long about the intent behind the ad, not realizing the insult is only hypothetical. So while GLSEN is actually saying:
“It hurts you when we say ______ to you, and it hurts when you say ‘that’s so gay’ to other people. Let’s not say things to hurt each other.”
it may not be readily gleaned on first read. With advertising, the first read is the most important.
2) There are still misconceptions about GLBTQ people that still need to be confronted. In reading some message board posts in relation to the ads, I noticed that some people still believed the myth that most people choose to be gay. Which means that there is a significant part of the teenage population that would see the poster as one group of people who ‘choose’ to act one way making fun of another.
People need to educated about the idea that science is discovering that homosexuality leans heavily towards the nature side of the “nature vs. nurture” scale. Once that is established, then the idea of making fun of someone for the way they were born and for doing/acting in a way that doesn’t harm anybody being wrong can be introduced.
A side note:
On these message boards the words “stereotyping” and “discrimination” were thrown around in relation to ‘gamer’ identity. This leads be to believe that there’s also a lot of people aren’t paying attention in history class during the civil rights portion and/or too heavily invested in the identity of gamer. Gaming culture, and the larger part of ‘nerd’ culture (fantasy and sci-fi literature / TV / film), also has had its fair share of problems in relation of representing minority people or with fans who are minorities, problems that still continue today. This is all a possible subject for a future post, so I’ll get back on topic.
3) The Internet/Youtube PSAs are good, but the celebrity aspect of it is problematic. There’s a bit of: “Oh, you’re _______, a superstar of stage and screen, obviously you are correct!”
The Hilary Duff spot is not that bad because compared to other pop starlets her age (Lindsey Lohan, the Olsen Twins) she’s actually a good role model. While others went crazy she put out a decent third album (love ”Play With Fire”) and has been in some quasi-independent movies, like War, Inc. I’d listen to her and I suspect other people might too.
However, there’s also one with Wanda Sykes, and well– as much as I agree with her on a lot of things– she is not the first person I would chose to speak out against offensive language.
4) The idea of language and how words are perceived is the major crux of any debate and discussion about how effective this campaign and other anti-bullying initiatives are. One of the major arguments about using ‘gay = bad’ come down to the definition.
”It doesn’t mean that anymore or it doesn’t mean that when I say it.”
GLSEN tries to combat with other posters for definitions of “gay” “faggot” ”dyke” with their old definitions and contemporary definitions. The site also has a cute little “Say What?” Adobe Flash thing that has other words included along with their definitions. (Cougar is included for some strange reason.)
However there is some truth to the argument, as words do change over time. Slang goes out and back into style. The best one can do to combat this argument is to convince the person that most people define the word gay as: someone, usually a male, who is homosexual.
Which leads to the argument about intent:
“I’m not actually talking about gay people when I say that.”
This is an eaiser idea to discuss. One simply needs to ask: ”How are other people supposed to know that?” This is really a discussion about clear communication. No everyone is privy to the all of the context of behind your statements, so they might take you at face value. So if you if you tend to associate the word ’gay’ with things you dislike (and thus are bad) people might think your a bit of a homophobe. (Just a bit.) This line of discussion might even lead people to ask themselves why they describe things as gay.
This also answers the question of “Why do _____ people get to use _____ word?” When gay people use ‘gay,’ ‘lesbo,’ ‘queer’ and ‘fag’ it is generally assumed that they insulting each other ironically or even using it as a compliment. The same goes for racial epithets
However, I’ve also heard the argument that, “Words only hurt if you give them power.” This seems to be ignoring the power of words especially ones with history behind them, but I’ve also seen it as an excuse someone will use when called out on their behavior.
This is where I realized one of the other major problems. GLSEN seems to assume is that people do not mean to insult GLBTQ people or people in general.
5) They forget one thing: some people are just jerks. They exist to provoke a reaction. Growing up, I knew that the bullies won when you got an adult. They won when you told them to knock it off. When SSJMasterCheif6795 calls you a ‘girly homo queer’ (amongst other things, and with horrible spelling) over X-Box Live, he is doing it to get you angry.
The fine webcomic duo at Penny Arcade explain it in one of their recent strips:
(Gabe and Tycho also note that the way the Internet is structured is the reason why the Internet is full of people like this via John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.)
Now, Gabe and Tycho (the artist and writer respectively, not the characters) are not excusing the behavior but are merely explaining why GLSEN campaign is missing the mark with some of it’s intended audience.
The ever articulate, and occasionally loquacious, Tycho explains it better:
They’re trying to regulate jerks by being jerks, but they’re not really jerks, so they can’t carry it off. This is the danger of assuming that your opponent is anything like yourself. They need to give their actual hatred of this practice a voice, every moment they were compressed into some subset of themselves, every brutal act, every misshapen poem they were forced to write, and concentrate this into a fragmentary lozenge of spoken power.
No-one responds to this kind of diffuse scolding, least of all young men, least of all from strangers who present themselves as archwizards of prim speech and perfect morality. Bigots and stupid kids speak this way expressly to promulgate the root concepts or to provoke a reaction. Telling them to “knock it off,” as this campaign hilariously does, is like exposing your belly to these wolves.
So what is the solution for dealing with these people? Unfortunately you have to tough it out. Thankfully, you don’t have to tough it out alone, especially not nowadays. And that’s what GLSEN is there for. It’ll get better when you go to college (if you go) and better after that.
Right now, you just beat SSJMasterChief6795, and he’ll have to live with knowledge that he lost to one of them ‘queers’. Teabag him after, it’ll be funny.
