They also started a facebook fan page to help spread the word on the contest and to have people vote for them. Upon entering their information to the facebook gods, their page was blocked and marked "offensive and abusive." Outraged, they really started to spread the word, wrote into Ellen Degeneres, and posted on blogs all over the country (it probably helps that my friend's fiancee is a blogger on a well-read lesbian style blog).
Subsequently, they started another facebook page called "Emily's Wedding isn't Actually Offensive," helping to promote awareness of their situation.
Any personal feelings I may or may not have (I'm still at odds in my own mind, because hey, love is love) I put aside, joined the group, and voted for Rachel and Emily on Crate and Barrels website. And then I read the fine-print on their "Emily's Wedding isn't Actually Offensive" page.
The issue, as they were so wanting people to believe, was not that facebook was taking a stand against the promotion of gay marriage. The issue is that facebook has a policy against campaigning for anyone to win any contest. Say I wanted to enter a contest wherein I could win a Snickers bar every day for a year and created a facebook page to get people to vote for me. It would be blocked for being "offensive and abusive."
I don't regret voting for them. My friend is a great person, and they make a really great couple. It just bothers me that they were so quick to hide the fact that facebook found the page offensive, not because they were gay, but because they were asking for any kind of vote.
It just makes me think about how little people read about what their voting for before they vote (myself included). Clearly this issue isn't life or death -- they will be married whether they win the contest or not, it'll just be nice to have the extra dough. I guess this just teaches me to be a better informed voter, that's all. Because I got duped, like so many others out there.
Their facebook fan page is up to nearly 1200 members, and they're currently in 6th place with almost 2200 votes. Do I think they'll win? Not a chance. And it's not because they're gay. It's because ahead of them is a couple where the groom-to-be was a Chicago cop, was in a car accident on duty and is paralyzed; a couple where the groom has cancer; and a couple where the bride has heart issues. There is also a gay couple ahead of my friend and her fiance, but still, I think a sick person will win out any time over a gay couple. And frankly, I think the sick couple is more deserving.
If you are so inclined, you may vote for them here.
3 comments:
that is dumb. Boo on them on making it some personal, political thing.
I can understand why they jumped the gun on making it personal/political. When you're in their demographic, you get put down a lot. They can't marry in most states, and many people who don't understand their situation are homophobic towards them, and they have to face that on a daily basis. I think that maybe it stemmed from being so used to such discrimination, to they immediately got defensive without realizing that it may not have anything to do with that. AND, the wording that Facebook uses is highly misleading. I think using the word "offensive" to describe asking for help with a vote is what is even more misleading. And "abusive" is a bit extreme. But, Facebook never asked me to choose their descriptive terms, so here we are.
no way! i voted for them because i saw one of them post something on another blog and you know one of them?! crazy small world.
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