Visiting family in Florida, a neighbor posted a small ceramic sign on their gate reading "Say Gay," a protest of the Florida Governor's law that schools can't talk to kids about non-hetero relationships.
Tina, sometimes the impact is indirect, including on their children. These are seeds. I am inspired by this, and as a Floridian to put up similar signs saying Say Gay and Protect Trans Youth. They will be along a heavily traveled state highway in red Florida, and will be large enough to be seen and high enough not to be easily removed. If they get defaced, I will restore them. Just up the highway is a Trump 24 flag in a yard that faces the highway. This will be where a lane goes off of the highway and where no homes will be targeted, because there are people in Florida who would.
my goodness David talk about being on the front lines. i appreciate your urgent sense of what's right and your impulse to be the person to take the lead. keep us posted!
I really like the “say gay” signs. I like it because of how it must feel to post it, and I also like it because it allows valuable space for those to take it in who may not agree initially, but who gets some valuable food for thought. That’s in the best case scenario I realize. For the signs you saw Julia, I like it, that someone felt strong enough to do this very intentional, beautiful work. The post above also has me thinking about what could be more actionable.
totally agree that "say gay" is a step or two or ten beyond these signs that I posted from Point Arena. because to "say gay" in a state like Florida is to take on the LAW and elected leaders. crazy that's come to this. but it has. so we've got to be the people who insist that SAYING GAY is PERFECTLY OKAY!!
I'll be a little bit contrarian here, and post on your other favorite topic which is land use and zoning. I live in a very high cost area, that is also very liberal. So we have the dichotomy of "Black Lives Matter" signs and "All are Welcome Here" signs in areas that are vastly white, expensive, and exclusionary to anyone who can't afford a large house. Those same people who say "all are welcome here" would have a coronary if the city proposed an apartment building of any kind in their single-family-zoned neighborhoods. I would be curious... what do those signs really mean, in actual action on the ground? I don't know where they are, or what kind of neighborhood. What would they say if their next-door neighbor attempted to divide their large house into a duplex and rent out half of it? I agree I'm adding a lot of assumptions here. But signs can be performative and well-meaning, but have little effect in the real world. I would want to look at Zillow and ask more questions.
yep Tina, this mashup of values (hypocrisy really) is evident in so many places including your town and mine. that said, I think Point Arena is not the kind of place you're describing. it's not a wealthy coastal town. median annual household income there is around $50K.
Our daughter graduated from high school in 2020. First the school canceled graduation and then, as the state covid restrictions were lifted, they moved it out two weeks and had it outdoors and distanced. My husband and I created "Burma Shave" signs and went to campus very early to install them for the graduates.
"Hugs to our teachers, With all our heart, Coming to you, Six feet apart"
"Strong hearts and minds, The world will say, Definitely comes from, SPA"
"With Twitter and Zoom, We're not far apart, Our Spartan connection, Is in our heart"
"At SPA, Our teachers taught, The valuable gift, Of critical thought"
Still early in the pandemic we were determined to celebrate milestones in the moment and not postpone things for the end of the pandemic and we're glad we "pushed" our kids to mark moments in creative ways (like the drive-by parties for birthdays and this graduation). It was a new normal of the moment and not normal at all.
Say Huh? Apparently not the lives of eucalyptus trees, Omg! Placing holes in trees requires knowledge of the tree species,and possibly you might need to have an arborists license. There are insects that will destroy trees by going into the holes too and they can destroy the heartwood killing the trees either way. Not to mention that they need to repair the holes so they don't become infected after they remove the nail or screw and signs. All the signs would've been better placed the ground. I guess they didn't also care about the environmental damages they caused to the very trees that let them breath O2. The "value" they seem to have been speaking about overall aims to kill the trees first because it's not like their being a hypocrite in the first place right?
Visiting family in Florida, a neighbor posted a small ceramic sign on their gate reading "Say Gay," a protest of the Florida Governor's law that schools can't talk to kids about non-hetero relationships.
It made me very happy to see.
i love that. these small acts of humanity are what pull me through some days.
Tina, sometimes the impact is indirect, including on their children. These are seeds. I am inspired by this, and as a Floridian to put up similar signs saying Say Gay and Protect Trans Youth. They will be along a heavily traveled state highway in red Florida, and will be large enough to be seen and high enough not to be easily removed. If they get defaced, I will restore them. Just up the highway is a Trump 24 flag in a yard that faces the highway. This will be where a lane goes off of the highway and where no homes will be targeted, because there are people in Florida who would.
my goodness David talk about being on the front lines. i appreciate your urgent sense of what's right and your impulse to be the person to take the lead. keep us posted!
I really like the “say gay” signs. I like it because of how it must feel to post it, and I also like it because it allows valuable space for those to take it in who may not agree initially, but who gets some valuable food for thought. That’s in the best case scenario I realize. For the signs you saw Julia, I like it, that someone felt strong enough to do this very intentional, beautiful work. The post above also has me thinking about what could be more actionable.
totally agree that "say gay" is a step or two or ten beyond these signs that I posted from Point Arena. because to "say gay" in a state like Florida is to take on the LAW and elected leaders. crazy that's come to this. but it has. so we've got to be the people who insist that SAYING GAY is PERFECTLY OKAY!!
I'll be a little bit contrarian here, and post on your other favorite topic which is land use and zoning. I live in a very high cost area, that is also very liberal. So we have the dichotomy of "Black Lives Matter" signs and "All are Welcome Here" signs in areas that are vastly white, expensive, and exclusionary to anyone who can't afford a large house. Those same people who say "all are welcome here" would have a coronary if the city proposed an apartment building of any kind in their single-family-zoned neighborhoods. I would be curious... what do those signs really mean, in actual action on the ground? I don't know where they are, or what kind of neighborhood. What would they say if their next-door neighbor attempted to divide their large house into a duplex and rent out half of it? I agree I'm adding a lot of assumptions here. But signs can be performative and well-meaning, but have little effect in the real world. I would want to look at Zillow and ask more questions.
yep Tina, this mashup of values (hypocrisy really) is evident in so many places including your town and mine. that said, I think Point Arena is not the kind of place you're describing. it's not a wealthy coastal town. median annual household income there is around $50K.
Our daughter graduated from high school in 2020. First the school canceled graduation and then, as the state covid restrictions were lifted, they moved it out two weeks and had it outdoors and distanced. My husband and I created "Burma Shave" signs and went to campus very early to install them for the graduates.
"Hugs to our teachers, With all our heart, Coming to you, Six feet apart"
"Strong hearts and minds, The world will say, Definitely comes from, SPA"
"With Twitter and Zoom, We're not far apart, Our Spartan connection, Is in our heart"
"At SPA, Our teachers taught, The valuable gift, Of critical thought"
Still early in the pandemic we were determined to celebrate milestones in the moment and not postpone things for the end of the pandemic and we're glad we "pushed" our kids to mark moments in creative ways (like the drive-by parties for birthdays and this graduation). It was a new normal of the moment and not normal at all.
my gosh Mary what a beautiful effort. good on you! i'll bet you touched a lot of folks' hearts by doing that. what kind of feedback did you get?
Start each day with a grateful heart.
such good advice. do you have a gratitude practice that you would be willing to share here?
"All lives Have Value"
Say Huh? Apparently not the lives of eucalyptus trees, Omg! Placing holes in trees requires knowledge of the tree species,and possibly you might need to have an arborists license. There are insects that will destroy trees by going into the holes too and they can destroy the heartwood killing the trees either way. Not to mention that they need to repair the holes so they don't become infected after they remove the nail or screw and signs. All the signs would've been better placed the ground. I guess they didn't also care about the environmental damages they caused to the very trees that let them breath O2. The "value" they seem to have been speaking about overall aims to kill the trees first because it's not like their being a hypocrite in the first place right?
ah, good point Savage PZZA. did not think of that. and i appreciate the perspective.
we might as well add that Eucalyptus are not native to the area and are considered invasive. someone made THAT bad decision years ago!
Hi Julie. My "practice" is a sticker posted to my computer that I read daily. And, I also post this mantra on my social media pages. :-) Not fancy.