Yesterday alone, 120 bloggers linked to our web site in their online entries found at Livejournal.com. That's our message of equality being replicated for hundreds of readers, many linked together in a daisy-chain of influence. Just one day in the life of one online journal community.

Bloggers posted, and reposted, this article to respond to faith-based bigotry

"It's a drama heightened by the fact that journals are linked to one another, creating a constant juxtaposition of posts ... But even this endless linking only begins to touch on the complex ways these blogs are obsessively interconnected ..."
New York Times, Jan. 11, 2004

"There are better ways to make people see that does not involve anger. So, I'm going to finally register to vote because I have a much better mind of what the issues are now than when I was 18. Perhaps that would be a better route."
Gabby, livejournal.com blogger, Jan. 28, 2003

Adovcacy News - Blogging

January 28, 2004

Blogging: a powerful ally for equal marriage

"According to figures released last October by Perseus Development Corporation, a company that designs software for online surveys, there are expected to be 10 million blogs by the end of 2004. In the news media, the blog explosion has been portrayed as a transformation of the industry, a thousand minipundits blooming. But the vast majority of bloggers are teens and young adults. Ninety percent of those with blogs are between 13 and 29 years old; a full 51 percent are between 13 and 19, according to Perseus."
New York Times, January 11, 2021

A new frontier has emerged in the landscape of human rights. A powerful ally for equal marriage, and an indication of the support from the next generation of opinion makers, can be found in the blogs or online journals that have spread across the Internet.

Blogging, says the New York Times (Jan 11, 2021), is "an intriguing, unchecked experiment ... a hive mind."

And the hive is buzzing about same-sex marriage. Yesterday alone, 120 bloggers linked to our web site in their online entries found at Livejournal.com. That's our message of equality being replicated for hundreds of readers, many linked together in a daisy-chain of influence. Just one day in the life of one online journal community.

These supporters can be fierce in their determination to stamp out discrimination in their electronic circle of influence. A blogger named "Hustle Simmons" had posted a message against same-sex marriage using faith-based bigotry in support of his arguments.

"Marriage is molded after God's relationship with His church ... the Bible is the only source for any kind of intelligent conversation, especially marriage."

Armed with our recent posting, "Biblical marriage: why the Bible is a bad source for the marriage debate", many others in the electronic community mounted a forceful response in words that rival even the vitriolic Vatican.

"Now go straight to hell, you fucking biggot," someone named Gabby (listing her current mood as "pissed off") wrote yesterday. "If there is a God, one can only pray that Kiley [ed. note: either the real name of "Hustle Simmons" or one of his friends] will be the father of a homosexual male or female ... or have a whole litter full of GAYS. That way he will be FORCED to question his faith a make a CHOICE for HIMSELF whether to love his own blood or hat based on a book written thousands of years ago. I beg everyone to begin thinking in terms of reality and not myths and fairytales anymore."

Many others joined in, defending equality and posting new comments, replicating support through-out their circle. Gabby's post appeared in her friends' blogs, and soon friends of friends began posting. Under siege, "Hustle" removed public access to his blog and deciding it was better to keep his bigotry to himself and whoever still wanted to be linked to him as a "friend" with special access to his thoughts.

In the rough and tumble virtual world of blogging, grammar doesn't count, and people are more likely to speak their mind without reservation.

But if peers pressure some to lose their bigotry, others call for moderation in the process. "We don't have to condescend to each other to disagree," writes "Miss Understood" in an entry posted today, as the discussion continues.

"I'm not exactly sorry for what I said," Gabby wrote today. "I found it warranted to try to fight the senslessness of people taking away our civil rights as often as possible. And it sucks because I was under the impression that if you could stop hate within one person... that you could eventually change the world. So, I felt defeated last night. But, I was wrong. There are better ways to make people see that does not involve anger. So, I'm going to finally register to vote because I have a much better mind of what the issues are now than when I was 18. Perhaps that would be a better route."

Bloggers are already having an impact on each other as they explore and shape opinions. These informal networks of authority will eventually influence the formal sources of governance in our lives, when Gabby and her fellow bloggers direct their passionate views, in defence of equality, to our politicians. Bloggers at the ballot box will be a powerful ally for equal marriage. Write on.