I wouldn't over-analyze it or take it out of the realm of human emotion here. Skimming the thread, there seems to be a lot of complaints that are forgetting that this is a particular cause that happens to be in the public awareness right now, so it's being dealt with... just like 9/11 was a big deal the month after it happened and then faded.
Lots of people get cancer, but it's not wrong to have a breast cancer campaign. It doesn't mean other types of cancers are being ignored, or the fact that all people eventually die is being forgotten. It's just meant to provide some public affirmation towards a particular group of people.
LGBT kids are especially susceptible as a social minority that isn't even allowed equal marriage rights (well, the LG) in the US, and there is often moral stigma attached to their behavior which to them they view as their IDENTITY -- so their whole identity is being run through the mire and it comes across as being told they are bad people because they identify as LGBT. This social movement was meant to fly in the face of that.
Is there really need for a distinction to be made between gay people and the rest of the world? Does same-sex sexual orientation automatically qualify one as having a particular subset of qualities, such as liking the colour purple, dance-pop, speaking with a lisp, etc., that make them inherently alien to the rest of society? And if not, wouldn't it be better to encourage wear any colour at all to support the diversity of thought, tradition, culture inside the gay community and showing the rest of the world that we're not so different after all?
I think it was just to show solidarity so that, if someone looks at you and sees you wearing purple, it's a clear cue that you are supportive and bear good will toward them.
That's what we're talking about -- emotional affirmation.
A lot of these suicides happen because people look around the world and see only disapproval, disgust, even hate. The purple is a visual cue supporters/wellwishers can use to cue LGBT people that they're accepted.
Cues are extremely important when someone's feeling that they're in an oppressed minority and that everyone is against them and so they must be "bad". Anything to alleviate that negative social pressure is helpful. If you walk through a world you thought was full of haters and you're seeing purple everywhere, it totally changes how you view the world and maybe even how you view yourself -- you realize you're a lot more acceptable than you were feeling based on the typical cultural silence or negativity.
moocow said:
I am coincidentally wearing purple today even though I hadn't heard of this.
Why is purple representative of homosexuality?
It's not.
But if it was some more common color like blue, there's more chance people would wear blue without it meaning anything. The "cue" might just be pure chance. Rarer colors suggest purposeful intent on the part of the wearer.
[B said:
Amor Anti[/B]]With that said, I've also felt a little bit annoyed upon seeing facebook statuses prompted by the recent suicides. You know, like the chain ones? While I care about the issue of homophobia in general, emphasizing recent events to get people to care has to be some sort of fallacy. Your INTJ classmate has a point--lots of people do commit suicide. Wording things to make it sound like this is solely a gay community (or new) issue is wrong.
I'd guess if someone wanted to start a movement to support "suicidal teens" regardless of their sexual pref, there's nothing wrong with that. This one was specifically aimed at the group it was because of the recently publicized slew of such suicides.
