Modern Marches

When my parents were young they were hippies. They used to actively campaign for issues they believed in, forcing political change and reinforcing their beliefs for many a year. Being members of Essex uni they were no doubt often chained to trees or fences, protesting and changing the world.

In the modern age this sort of political campaigning is not as prolific. It is thought, perhaps, that we already live in “changed times”, that the world is nearly healed and issues resolved. We all know this isn’t true, but the majority of marches and campaigns involve those close and dedicated to the issue, rather than the general public at large.

Today, however, I experienced a new kind of march, a new kind of protest. On twitter, I was part of an ever increasing collection of individuals protesting loudly and forcefully about the now infamous Jan Moir article that slated poor Stephen Gately, calling for people to complain and for the slanderous article to be removed. Between us we visited the complaints office online in such numbers that the site folded under the sheer volume, that the companies advertising alongside the article on the Daily Mail website pulled their advertising within hours.

We may not have been on the streets, marching and shouting and fighting for justice. But in our new modern social media way, we were working from the inside, changing perceptions with an increasingly liberal collection of twitter-ets. Homophobia will not be taken lightly, and we will fight back, just as passionately as our forefathers/mothers.