UK LGBTQ+ charity group, Stonewall, has released its first-ever Christmas campaign video entitled ‘Proud Mistletoe 2021’. The video created in collaboration with Ogilvy and Gay Times responds to the rise in homophobic attacks in the UK, and encourages viewers to “kiss hate goodbye” this holiday season.
The video directed by Luis Aguer opens showing what should be safe spaces – pubs, parks, buses, takeaway shops, etc. accompanied by news reports of homophobic attacks that have happened in these locations. As the news stories build, a couple meet and kiss in a London underground station, and replacing the harrowing reports is the track ‘Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight’ by Joey Ramone.
What follows is a heartwarming montage of different queer couples joyously kissing in public, without fear or hesitation.
Reports of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crimes continue to rise in 2021. Help create a world where all LGBTQ+ people can show affection without fear. This Christmas, kiss hate goodbye. 🎄🏳️🌈 Donate for a chance to win your own #ProudMistletoe: https://t.co/3hFEe8gshi pic.twitter.com/C90m02Pvii
— Stonewall (@stonewalluk) December 16, 2021
In a statement, Stonewall says: “LGBTQ+ people deserve to feel safe everywhere. On the bus. In the pub. At the supermarket. In the street. And especially when we’re with our loved ones.
“But the UK Government’s own National LGBT Survey found that 40% of respondents experienced a negative incident in the 12 months before the survey, rising to an astonishing 54% for Trans people. Since then, reports of hate crime have increased even further,” it continues.
“As part of our festive campaign […] we’re asking our supporters to kiss with pride, beneath rainbow-coloured Proud Mistletoe.”
The organisation pays homage to LGBTQ+ trailblazers of the ‘70s and ‘80s who held defiant kiss-ins as a form of protest, saying, “we too can reclaim public spaces in the name of love and pride.” Stonewall has created a #proudmistletoe Instagram filter which people can kiss under, or if you donate to the cause, you are automatically entered into a prize draw to win a Proud Mistletoe of your own.
I used to get hassle in public kissing my last gf 👩🏼❤️💋👩🏻
So yes, if there was one thing I could wish for in 2022, this would be at the top of my list 📝🎄🙏🏼🏳️🌈 #ProudMistletoe
Please share and help support @stonewalluk 😌 https://t.co/KFJPq3G65h— Charlie Martin (@GoCharlieM) December 16, 2021
Daniel Fisher, global executive creative director at Ogilvy said: “We’re incredibly proud to be part of Stonewall’s first-ever Christmas campaign. It’s an important piece of work for our agency, which has always flexed our purpose muscle.”
Ogilvy’s global creative director, Francesco Grandi, added: “We hope this campaign inspires people to fight back with love, not hate. We’re proud to have revamped the mistletoe, a 300 year-old UK tradition, into a symbol for equal love. If this campaign prevents just one homophobic attack this holiday season, then we did our job.”
Watch ‘Proud Mistletoe 2021’, the video for the first-ever Stonewall Christmas campaign, below.
© 2021 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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