How One Person Can Make a Difference

In November of 2008, despite the "liberal" reputation of California an amendment to the state constitution was passed that effectively blocked gay marriage. The response was almost immediate from both political officials and many gay rights organizations. A Judge passes an injunction declaring it unconstitutional for a short while before that was overturned by a higher court invalidating hundreds of marriages that had taken place in the short time between.

To me, the most amazing of the was the NO H8 campaign started by photographer Adam Bouska and his longtime partner. In my opinion, this silent protest has been one of the most effective and widespread of the grassroots movement to have come out of Proposition 8. It began with several celebrities; Jane Lynch, Pete Wentz and Anthrax to name a few, being featured in ads with their mouths covered by duct tape symbolizing their voices being silenced by prop 8 and the words NO H8 written on their cheek.

In the past 2 years, the number of photographs has grown into the thousands as ordinary Californians were joined nationally by politicians, military personnel, law enforcement and even newlyweds. This campaign has grown to be a world-wide phenomenon, being the subject of many a news or talk show and being heavily spread by social networking via photo albums and profile pictures. The goal is to eventually compile them all for a large scale campaign.

This made the news when Tori Spelling was seen in August 2009 with her two children, all sporting the NO H8 logos as the went about town. Tori has been known to be, or think of herself as, a gay rights activists, but many were shocked to see her children involved. Tori's reaction?

'The good news is that things are changing, generationally. My kids will grow up in a house knowing that it's perfectly normal for two men to be in love, it's perfectly normal for two women to be in love.

'My kids will grow up knowing it's all about love. It doesn't matter who you're with and everyone should have that experience.'

I remember the startling statistics on the correlation between suicide and homosexuality. Most people have heard about the dire ramifications of bullying and how many of those teens were suspected of being gay. To have people standing up for a cause like this could be so critical to a developing youth.

I am proud to have known some friends who have posed for this campaign. Everyday people doing something special to stand up for what they believe is right. I know that thanks to this campaign, a lot of mainstream youth have seen celebrities, both straight and gay, to say it is time that we the people learned that there should be NO H8 in America. Thanks to this campaign a lot of youth will not give into self-loathing and suicide or bullying. Thank you Adam Bouska and everyone who participated to this day!

NOTE: If you love "GLEE", visit the NO H8 campaign site find out which of your favorite GLEEKS have taken part!!!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1302869/Tori-Spelling-gets-kids-involved-California-sex-marriage-campaign.html#ixzz0yUNNouUT

http://www.noh8campaign.com/