Tag Archives: activists

Rainbow Bright–Man Takes On Westboro Baptist Church

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The Westboro Baptist Church is probably the most deplorable congregation of people ever to walk the face of the Earth. They do nothing but spew hate speech and manipulate the minds of the ignorant and the young. What they preach doesn’t even make sense—but that doesn’t matter and this article isn’t about WBC. This article is about Aaron Jackson.
Aaron Jackson is the co-founder of Planting Peace, a non-profit aimed at providing sustainable initiatives to impoverished areas. Jackson says he was looking up the “church” on Google Earth when he noticed a ‘for sale’ sign on the house across the street from the “church” headquarters. That’s when he decided to buy it.
Planting Peace purchased the home and moved into the neighborhood. “[Westboro owns] the majority of the homes in the community, and I walk through the area every day, and I see them running in between each other’s houses,” Jackson said. “One day I was walking, and Shirley Phelps [one of Westboro's main spokespeople and the daughter of the church's leader, Fred Phelps] was on her four-wheeler. And I said, ‘Hey guys, how are you?’ And [she and her husband] responded, ‘Oh, we’re good. How are you?’ We had a short conversation, and she was extremely nice, and she made a joke and we all laughed.”

Shirley Phelps probably wasn’t laughing when Jackson decided to spruce up the house he bought. He decided to paint the exterior—not a strange thing to do when you purchase a home—but Jackson decided to paint the house a rainbow and use the home for LGBT rights headquarters. “The reason I haven’t gotten into the gay rights activism is because, in a sense, it’s almost silly — it’s 2013, are we really still in this position? It just seems ludicrous,” said Jackson. “But it is a real issue and kids are killing themselves. I’ve wanted to do something, and I knew when I saw that house for sale that it all came together. Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a little crazy and there’s no red tape in my charity. When I want to do something, I do it.”
“We want this house to be a message that where there’s hate, there’s also love. But we also want to raise awareness and capital, and we want to put all that money into creating and sustaining anti-bullying programs, along with supporting anti-bullying programs that already exist,” he said. “Beyond the symbolic message of the home, [the house] will be utilized by volunteers to live here, and these volunteers will work on promoting equality anywhere in the world and managing these anti-bullying initiatives that we plan on creating.”

Jackson says he’s already noticed members of the church coming by to take pictures.

 



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Essay: Should Feminists Be Vegetarians?

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photo of a man eating meat pictures photos
There is a whole article on whether or not feminists should be vegetarian. Ecofeminists’ Sheila Jeffreys wrote: “It is a joy to be in agreement about the need to abolish such practices of violence against women as prostitution and pornography, because such agreement is so rare in the malestream world. But this great feeling of sisterhood and togetherness was marred by disagreement over an issue that I consider to be of great importance, the eating of animals.”

Kathryn Paxton George wrote a book called Animal, Vegetable, or Woman: A Feminist Critique of Ethical Vegetarianism, and an article entitled: “Should feminists be vegetarian?”, and also produced a show on the topic. In her research, George found, “deep male biases of the traditional arguments for ethical vegetarianism” and makes the argument that there is a certain level of elitism behind the idea that women and feminists should be vegetarian. The debate is that cutting up an animal for consumption, or simply having a farm only to slaughter the animals is to objectify them, since feminism is about not objectifying women—and if that’s the case, shouldn’t it be in favor of not objectifying anything?

This is a ridiculous argument to me, as I, for one, consider myself to be a feminist. I believe in equal rights for all people and animals. I am a huge animal lover. I have two rescues and just yesterday took in a cat who had been involved in a hit and run right before my eyes. I am also someone who is deathly anemic and has to take five iron pills a day just to say at the lowest level that a human can safely be at. I constantly struggle with my iron level and have discussed with my doctor what I need to do. I need red meat. I can eat kale and spinach all day every day and it doesn’t have the iron I need. Every once in a while I have to dip into a steak or a burger. So, by this argument’s definition, I’m a bad feminist.

I try to buy free range, organic, and halal or kosher meats because I know the animals aren’t inhumanely slaughtered. Animals, whether you like it or not, were put here for human consumption. Yes, we are at an age where that doesn’t need to happen—but that is their purpose. I fully oppose the treatment that many animals receive, however, and I do not think there should be hormone injections. I feel their housing should be clean and that these animals should be loved and respected.

Wouldn’t a better argument be should feminists be animal rights activists? That’s a simple discussion with a simple answer: yes. Everyone should be an animal rights activists, and everyone should be a feminist. Everyone coexists, males, females, children, animals we are all connected and we all have to share this space, so wouldn’t it make more sense for us all to want the best for everyone and everything? How about we all just drop the subset and all be activists for a better world?



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Women For Sale in Israel: A Thought-Provoking Demonstration of Women in Israeli Society Today

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In a busy shopping center in Tel Aviv, women, posing like mannequins, were put on display featuring hefty price-tags.  Some were made up to look like they had suffered from a violent attack, all to stress the realness and effects of human trafficking and illegal prostitution in Israel.

It is estimated that more than 3,000 women residing in Israel have been smuggled into the country with the sole purpose of acting as sex slaves. Many of these women are perpetually raped and beaten, and not many discuss it for fear of repercussions.

The display put on by a non-profit organization and called “Women to Go” stopped shoppers in their tracks.  Campaigner Ori Keider explained:

“What we see here today is an example of what’s going on in houses and basements and yards in this city, but today we’re showing it in the center of this shopping mall so people can understand, they cannot look away.”

Shoppers were asked to sign a petition demanding that people who pay for sex be prosecuted.

Time and time again, the women, who are almost always the victims in these situations, are persecuted while the men paying for their services go unpunished.

The signatures collected during this protest will be submitted to the Minister of Justice in an effort to put together a bill that will criminalize those who solicit sexual services. Many believe that a law like this could eradicate the phenomenon of trafficking in women.

However, despite its warm-and-fuzziness, it’s hard to say if a law like this one will make even a small dent in the Israeli sex trade.   It’s possible that it could hurt more then it could help.  But however, I think public awareness is an excellent step in the right direction, even if some claim otherwise.  Awareness and education is a powerful tool, as we’ve seen them play out time after time in various instances of women’s history (suffrage, sexual revolution, etc).

I think that any activism that grabs the attention of a large group of people is, at times, more effective than the passing of laws that are continually broken.



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