Why I Posed by Abiola Abrams
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
NOH8 Campaign NYC. Why Straight People MUST Participate.
People have asked me many times, Abiola, why did you participate in the No H8 Campaign? They've said, Abiola, you live in NYC not LA, your books, columns, Web TV series and blogs are about heterosexual love. You have a strong fan base that has followed your fun stories about your love of and dating mishaps with your men from BET to VH1. The African American community and your Caribbean fan base are very nervous about anything involving homosexuality; Why would you participate in a gay rights shoot? My response is that I chose to participate for every single one of those reasons...
This week I was proud to participate in the No H8 gay rights campaign photo shoot in New York City. The artistic photo campaign is the brainchild of photographer Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley. The controversial campaign has been in the news lately because Meghan McCain and her mother Cindy McCain joined the pro-gay marriage fight although father and husband John McCain is publicly opposed.
In the same way that the black civil rights campaign in the 1950s and 1960s needed white people to participate, the gay civil rights campaign needs straight people on board as well. Civil rights for anyone is civil rights for everyone. This became especially real when protesters across from the shoot shouted hurtful things at the group in the name of religion. Nothing like being discriminated against or persecuted along with someone to make you feel their cause.
It seemed especially relevant for me to do the shoot in February for many reasons: Black History Month, Valentine's Day, I'm Ms February in the NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar and the second Abiola's Kiss & Tell Live Revueat Madame X.
Among the people waiting on a long line on a February day to participate was a mother with her children, loving couples and best friends. Brava all!
You can see my NoH8 Campaign Shoot Diary at the end of my recent Luvem OrLeave Em Advice Team Vlog. Also check out my NoH8 Campaign Flickr photo and video album. I'll see my final No H8 Campaign by Adam Bouska photo in about a month.
