Avatar Change and Social Media Campaigns for LGBT Rights and Same-Sex Marriage

George Takei didn’t create it, but he did make it famous. Now his request got carried on Facebook and there are a lot of Facebook accounts with the same avatar. The avatar is a simple red with a pink equal sign pink for the foreground.

George Takei issued the request for friends and followers to change their avatar to the red logo and more than 40,000 responded affirmatively. The avatar itself is a redesign of the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, which is a yellow equal sign on a field of blue. He wrote on his Facebook page: “For those friends wondering, this special ‘red’ equality symbol signifies that marriage equality really is all about love.” In response, the post got more than 50,000 likes. It was shared 20,000 times.

George Takei was a member of the original Star Trek TV series – now called Star Trek: The Original Series, or simply ST:TOS. He has been very active on social media with his presence on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. On Facebook George has more than 3.7 million followers and 5.5 million likes. He has 600,000 followers on Twitter and also has a popular Tumblr account. Since becoming a social media icon, he has used his popularity to promote advocacies which include gay and minority rights and equality. He is part of the musical “Allegiance” which is about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. His participation in the musical is personal, as he was interned with his parents in one of the camps.

The Rise of Social Media and Social Network Campaigns

Social media campaigns have been used before for successful campaigns. One such campaign with an annual theme is breast cancer awareness, which used cryptic messages to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Campaigns have used avatars, pictures, memes, status, links and messages, as well as twibbons, which are addon graphics to the avatar. The current red avatar campaign has been seen on non-American Facebook users.

The current campaign for equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT), is meant to promote awareness as the Supreme Court of the United States deliberates on the repeal of California’s Proposition 8. After the Proposition 8 deliberations, the SCOTUS will be hearing arguments about the national Defense of Marriage Act.

Same-Sex Marriage and LGBT Equality

California’s Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition during the November 2008 election, which specifically limited marriage to persons of the opposite sex. However, there have been prior statutes and laws in California which have invalidated the prohibition prior to the referendum. In effect, it no longer allowed same-sex marriage in California, but had no effect to same-sex marriages performed prior to November 8, 2008.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a United States federal law which for purposes of inter-state and federal purposes, defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman. It was signed into law by Pres. Bill Clinton in 1996. Since then, Clinton and the law’s proponents have changed their views and advocated the law’s repeal.

Social media has served as the fora and battleground for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, along with most other controversial topics. The trending topics on Twitter has been used as a gauge of the opinion on the internet by pollsters and opinion makers alike.