“We are genuinely sorry to have played any part in something that appears to devalue our own community.”
Pride in London launched its ‘Love Happens Here’ posters in celebration of London’s Pride Festival, but many LGBTs were less than impressed with the campaign.
The posters, which all contain the hashtag #LoveHappensHere, used messages from members of the LGBT+ community and “straight” people, which were then made into posters by artists, reports BBC.
One of the posters – which bears the legend ‘Being Homophobic is Sooo Gay’ – was singled out for particular criticism for its uses of “gay” as a pejorative. Some LGBTs took offense at the seeming surfeit of references to heterosexuals ( like ‘Gay man, straight man. We’re all human’ and ‘My sister is gay. I’m straight. Together we’re graight’).
Whoever designed these posters need to be fired immediately. #LoveHappensHere pic.twitter.com/SyDPDNN77L
— alex (@aluxjamez) June 29, 2017
“Other posters in the series seem kind of obsessed with straight people,” writes New Statesman blogger Eleanor Margolis. “Which looks to me frighteningly like oh-so-downtrodden heteros trying to add an “S” to LGBTQ.”
The campaign was also criticised for centring on gays and lesbians too much and not including bisexuals. In total, 4 posters were removed from the campaign.
“It is clear we misjudged the content of some of the messages in this poster series, undermining the individuality, importance, and dignity of the LGBT+ community,” a Pride in London spokesperson said in a statement today.
made some #LoveHappensHere posters of my own – thanks @LondonLGBTPride !!! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/itcK221rlR
— daisy (@mermatriarch) June 29, 2017
“This was never our intention, and we are genuinely sorry to have played any part in something that appears to devalue our own community, and have removed these… images from our campaign.”
London Pride festival, which last year attracted a whopping 1 million attendees, takes place between June 24 – July 9.
© 2017 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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