Thursday, April 26, 2007

Flowers for Al and Don - Love and Activism






In winter of 2004 (for a very short time) same sex marriages were being performed in San Francisco until a court order forced the city to stop. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of anonymously sending flowers and expressions of love and suport for couples waiting in line at the court house. For those who couldn't afford the average $50 a bouquet cost being charged by florists, activist Darren Barefoot established Flowers for Al and Don, and managed to raise a mind-blowing US $14,312.68 from 894 people . When the court order stopped the marriages from continuing to be performed in the city, the project was shut down. The picture above is a self-portrait by Pike who participated in handing out the flowers, and a couple of shots from the project. What a lovely expression of solidarity and support. Flower activism! It's a travesty that this is even an issue of contention, and stunning that three years later we are still debating if people who love each other should be able to get married. One of the gaps (okay, chasms) in sex education is exploring what loving and being loved by another means. We need to focus less on the genders of partners, and teach toward being good partners. (photo source: from the link below)


If you'd like, read more about Flowers for Al and Don or...to read messages from those who were surprised and delighted with flowers as they waited to get married, you can do so
here

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