The viral parody
This one tickled me all the way in the back of my brain. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it first.
Thanks to Zortnac for exposing Exodus’ inherent contradiction.
Or how about this totally inflammatory (and yet hi-larious) idea from Knags in the comments of Deep Kreeg:
Black? Unhappy?
www.makeuwhite.com
Do you think Exodus is getting the message yet, or should we keep going?
Though I’ve been using humor and parody to speak truth to dogma, Mike Airhart over at Ex-Gay Watch (who was also sent a cease-and-desist letter) has put together his own wholly original and touching “parody.”
I’d love to see these get professionally designed and printed as postcards for distribution to Exodus’ network of ministries. If anyone has the time or money to donate to this project, send an email to editor [at] exgaywatch /dot/ com.
Check out my first cease and desist letter for information on the legal action being taken against me for creating the original Exodus billboard parody (to the right). Got an idea for a better parody? Make your own or leave a comment.
Glad you liked Justin! I hope the people from Exodus … well… I hope they read it and realize who silly their ad campaign is. But… what can I say, they put the ‘mental’ in ‘fundamentalist’.
You rule Justin! I just read a summary of the quarrel at gay.com:
http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2006/03/11/1
Congrats on a BRILLIANT idea. Simple, but way beyond simplicity once you view it and get the way it plays.
Don’t let them rag ya into doing anything (I wish I had a legal background, but I don’t).
Check out worth1000.com where they rip whole movie ads and posters and MANY other copyrighted images.
Sorry to hear they contacted you in this way, too.
Stuffy. Weird. Stifling. You name it. I could understand people trying to stop people from hurting one another.
I also don’t know why they don’t object to what the birds are doing in the trees or the animals in the forests.
Yeah, well.
Jerry in Pennsylvania
ps — i read about this billboard at “planetout” dot com — did you know they were covering this story as a news item ?
keep smilin’
Too bad Exodus didn’t realize that they would have been better off keeping their months shut regarding the parodies. They are going to be all over the place, and they’ll spend a fortune sending out cease and desist orders. Poor bastards (Exodus heirarchy, not the people who go there:-)
thats a great image from zortnac, keep us updated on this story, we support you
Thanks for all the support!
The only problem is, someone brought to my attention that “Gay? Unhappy?” might be more accurately described as an oxymoron—but I’m undecided. Do the grammar mavens lurking out there care to comment?
to be gay and unhappy at the same time would be a contradiction. An oxymoron is a phrase or expression that expresses irony intentionally by exposing the contradictory elements of what it is describing, i.e. bittersweet, etc. Gay? Unhappy? is neither phrase or expression nor intentional irony (on the part of Exodus). thanks for asking.
Phew, that’s what I thought after looking into oxymorons more closely. Thanks for the confirmation. And your seven minute response time. Yay blogosphere!
I’m on your side.
Excellent all around. I am posting your original work of art on my blog; it looked like you gave permission but if not, just let me know and I’ll remove it. After all, you really do have copyright! I’ve also posted to this page. Great blog, by the way.
Subversive Librarian, please do so, subvert!
Justin, you rock.
Hey! Good luck with everything. I hope you don’t mind that I am going to put this up on my blog too. It sounds like they are going to have to sue quite a few of us–what are the chances we can bankrupt them? :)
It’s up on my blog for over a week now. Stick it to them!
Double thumbs up
Justin,
I found out about you on 365Gay…I LOVE IT…keep up the good work. As a Out gay Christian I try hard to love even those self-loathing morons!
Justin,
Bless you, friend!
I live in Orlando, Florida, the home base of this horrible organization of Exodus International. Occasionally, I have to be forced to drive past these hateful, bigoted, and biased billboards. Each time, I feel so full of anger to be subjected to the ridicule of people who have absolutely no business going out of their way to hurt others. Now, I feel a release of this anger seeing your blog parodies. You are AWESOME!
I think we all need to be able to take a joke, but after seeing the recent parodies of “Brokeback Mountain” played over and over, to the point of nauseum, it is refreshing to see a parody played upon an organization who is indeed hateful and hurtful to a group of people who are perfectly happy being who they are.
I think you (we) should invest and put up billboards near the Exodus boards that are like the images you have on your blog. I’ll be the first to donate to a legitimate fund to see them up. And, may I suggest that they go up first in my home town, and Exodus headquarters, Orlando, Florida.
You ROCK!
Keep up the excellent parody! We need more of this and I applaud you. As a gay, Christian man living in North Texas, it disgusts me how Christianity has become the institution that promotes hatred and intolerance rather than what Christ demanded: to love one-another. Maybe you need a new sign: “Christian? Hate-filled? http://www.goldenrule.com“
Stay strong! A little wit and humor never hurt nobody. Their billboards on the other hand… disgusting!
Justin, what did I tell you? You hung in there and didn’t give in to the Fundamentalist Christian Fascists at Liberty Council and Exodus. Now the ACLU and other legal organizations are supporting and defending your position. Why? Because you have every right to parody Exodus’ self-righteous billboard.
God bless you for your tenacity in protecting the rights of all Americans’ freedom of speech.
Keep up the awesome work!!!
You’ve got a great site! Thank you!
After reading your story on USA Today, I clicked on your and their links. I would like to say as a Catholic please do not think that all Catholics think that gay people are bad. The mainstream (conservative) media thinks that by posting stories about the actions of some Catholic Dioceses or groups that claim to have Catholic connections that ALL Catholics agree. While of course the Church disapproves homosexual activities, the Church does not think or try to “change” people. Homosexuals are accepted for what they are and would only be encouraged to be celibate. Most gays would find that unacceptable. But Catholics are not tying to turn gays into “pod” people like many of the people on the Exodus web site appear to be. And I take offense when groups like Exodus post stories about actions some Dioceses have taken to imply me agree with Exodus. All of these so called “Christians” (Protestant conservatives) now try to drag up down with them. We will though begin are “conversion” of these “Christians” back to Catholic so that they don’t burn in Hell as we believe all non-Catholic “Christians” will.
Just read about this. Keep up the good work. I think we all need some laughs, huh? Beautiful pics…I live in Sonoma County. I hope you don’t care but I am putting up your parady billboard picture. Great job!!
Congratulations, Justin.
Good work; good fight.
Congratulations on the victory against Exodus and Liberty Counsel. I suspect Liberty Counsel is used to intimidating bloggers across the country, but they ran into a Stonewall with you and the ACLU. Great job. Thanks!
Sam Spade’s San Francisco …
Hey. I just wanted to voice my support. I think its so great someone is standing up to these people. I was going to ask your permission to put the pic of the bilboard on my myspace if you don’t mind. Thank you so much! Good luck in this situation! Bye
I love what you’re doing!!! It’s fantastic, last year (just noticed the webpage), but nevertheless, fantastic. I hope everything’s OK and you’re still strong with all.
Take care, Tim.