How to Make Your Gay Protest Not Suck

It feels like young people from my parents’ generation were much better protesters than young people today. Maybe they were fueled by hallucinogens and flower power, or perhaps they were just more civically engaged. Whatever the case, the yellowed textbook images of hippies, activists and braless women congregated en masse, fists raised and mouths open in what was surely a ferocious scream, really gives you goose-bumps.

Issues like racial injustice, the war in Vietnam and apartheid electrified practically everyone and spurred action everywhere — campuses, city streets and town halls. If an average protest in the 60s and 70s was like a raucous rock concert, the average protest today is like a Puddle of Mudd cover band playing the local coffee shop. In other words, it seems pretty lame.

The reasons for the lack of interest in sit-ins, love-ins, marches, walk-outs and other forms of protest are really immaterial. Protesting harder is a thing of the past. Protesting smarter is how we will win equality.

Be "annoying": There is a reason that Change.org has boasted so many successes through its petitions and actions. For any politician or company, receiving hundreds or thousands of emails (which continue to trickle in over time) is aggravating. The New York Times tells the story of how the food industry is switching from high-fructose corn syrup to plain ol’ sugar, thanks to some persistent food naturalists. As Phil Lempert says in The Times “Manufacturers are tired of hearing about the e-mails, the 800-number calls and the letters.” Being ornery and incorrigible can make big waves through big industries.

Understand the Bottom Line: The Freakonomics blog on The New York Times website gathered protest experts to ask the question: do protests even work anymore? Almost every expert agreed that protesters rarely get what they want, when they want it, or how soon they want it. Protesting, especially marches, isn’t necessarily about attaining a legislative win or civil rights; often times the result is simply that the world is made aware of an issue and it becomes part of the public consciousness. In other words, look at the seemingly endless marches and protest rallies as one swing of the ax to a mighty sequoia. The tree will eventually come falling down, but it’s all about elbow grease and time. Bottom line: you may not see the effects of a march or protest, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t there. And if a protest has three people or 30,000 people participating, the issue is still making its way into the minds of everyone.

Boycott locally: After Apple unfairly rejected a gay iPhone app, I kept seeing the word “boycott” pop up on comment sections across the web. We could try to boycott Apple, but it would take every single gay person, every straight ally and millions more to make a dent in the profitability of Apple. Instead, work locally. The Montgomery bus boycott was an incredible demonstration of protest power because it targeted one source that was used heavily by one audience and would affect the local economy. Getting a gay community to rally behind, for instance, a local restaurant that won’t hire gay wait staff will be infinitely more successful than trying to boycott a corporate giant.

Learn Elementary PR: Before your action, make sure you’ve got the lights and cameras all lined up. Any protest, but especially local ones, will likely be picked up by someone. First things first, get to know (and be friends with) your local media. There are sure to be dozens of new sources: hyper-local, neighborhood-focused newspapers, online-only news, blogs, alternative weeklies, student newspapers, (high school, college and junior college) local television stations and more. And the beautiful thing about the 21st century? All of these folks share news! If you can create a memorable scene, give an eloquent interview or just rile a lot of people, your efforts will be greatly multiplied by getting in front of a camera. Don’t let the PR professionals fool you. Any literate person can write a press release and anyone with a camera can snap a picture. Don’t be afraid to do it!

Above all, we need to cut ourselves a break. We’ve made incredible strides and will continue to do so. Our protests might not come close to the protests of the 60s and 70s, but that doesn’t mean that we should stop. Instead, we should focus strategically on best practices. Protests happen everyday, all around the world. Some of them are good. Some of them are bad. We can take lessons from others' successes to protest smarter and give anti-gay folks a run for their money.

Photo Credit: Nima Badiey