We're sure you've heard of "sit-ins”. Hell, maybe a few of you have even participated in one. But have you ever heard of a “kiss-in”?
Last week, a couple of guys named Jonathan Williams and James Bull had their first date at the John Snow Pub on Broadwick Street in London. The date went really well, and the pair, as most couples tend to do when dates go well, leaned in for a kiss.
It wasn't anything obscene, they say. Just a kiss. But the bar tossed them out for it, just the same.
What happened next, and is still in progress, is nothing short of heart-warming. The story was picked up by LGBT media outlets and an event was organized on Facebook to protest the pub's discriminatory policies. More than 700 people RSVP’d to the event, so the pub closed its doors. Undeterred, the show went on, and they even hoisted a rainbow flag over the place.
And now? Facebook has deleted a photograph of a gay kiss, saying “Shares that contain nudity, or any kind of graphic or sexually suggestive content, are not permitted on Facebook.” According to Perez Hilton, the LGBT community isn't taking this laying down. They're flooding the site with pictures of gay men kissing.
And you know, we’d be perfectly okay if Facebook, overnight, went from being the “Super Powerful Overlords of Social Networking Site” to “Huge Gay Kissing Photo Site.” It’s probably not going to happen, but it’s something we can root for.
Update: Facebook has apologized for deleting the gay kiss photo and reinstated the page. Quick work, Internets!
Last week, a couple of guys named Jonathan Williams and James Bull had their first date at the John Snow Pub on Broadwick Street in London. The date went really well, and the pair, as most couples tend to do when dates go well, leaned in for a kiss.
It wasn't anything obscene, they say. Just a kiss. But the bar tossed them out for it, just the same.
What happened next, and is still in progress, is nothing short of heart-warming. The story was picked up by LGBT media outlets and an event was organized on Facebook to protest the pub's discriminatory policies. More than 700 people RSVP’d to the event, so the pub closed its doors. Undeterred, the show went on, and they even hoisted a rainbow flag over the place.
And now? Facebook has deleted a photograph of a gay kiss, saying “Shares that contain nudity, or any kind of graphic or sexually suggestive content, are not permitted on Facebook.” According to Perez Hilton, the LGBT community isn't taking this laying down. They're flooding the site with pictures of gay men kissing.
And you know, we’d be perfectly okay if Facebook, overnight, went from being the “Super Powerful Overlords of Social Networking Site” to “Huge Gay Kissing Photo Site.” It’s probably not going to happen, but it’s something we can root for.
Update: Facebook has apologized for deleting the gay kiss photo and reinstated the page. Quick work, Internets!
As a Brit, I can sadly report that the only male/male contact many pubs are willing to tolerate is violence. "Did you spill my pint?" THUMP!