Davies.
On the 11th annual National Day of Silence (April 18, 2007), I was
faced with an unfortunate tragedy, being victim to a hate crime.
Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on my VW Beetle, my car was
vandalized in red spray paint with the words “fAg” and “u r gay”
placed all over the hood and driver side of my car. Despite
immediate shock and embarassment, I’ve decided to embrace what
happened and keep driving my car as it is in order to bring more
public awareness to the blatant homophobia that exists in our
society.
My mission is to drive my fagbug on a cross country trip and take
it to as many diverse communities as possible. The goal is to get
at least one million people to add fagbug rainbow stickers to their
cars so that no one else will be targeted like I was again. Until
that happens, my car will stay as is!
I’m working with a TV Producer in LA to get the “Fagbug Across
America” turned into a reality series by a national cable TV
Network. The more visible this becomes, the more we can educate
and create a dialogue around tolerance, and learn more about why we
are so intolerant.
In our society we’re taught to cover something like this up right
away, whether it be being a victim of sexual abuse, domestic
violence, or a hate crime, we are taught to cover it up and carry
that guilt and shame around with us on the inside. Had I covered
the words on my car right away, (even though no one else would see
them) I would still be haunted by them every time I looked at my
car. By keeping them on, I’ve made a decision to give the general
public immediate access to them, which has evoked a charged
dialogue. Lots of people think I should take my rainbow sticker
off, lots of people think I should keep it on, lots of people think
they’d beat the crap out of the person who did this, lots of people
want to kill that person. What I am doing is sending a non-violent
message to that person. By keeping the words on my car, I am hoping
to find out who did this and be able to have a dialogue with them
about what motivated them to do such a thing. Perhaps by uncovering
the layers behind one person’s hate, I can prevent another’s from
developing.
received over 2,000 letters of support from across the US, Itlay,
Belgium, Spain, the UK, Australia, Germany and Mexico. Again, had I
covered it up right away, I would’ve had very little support but
now I’ve been able to connect with people around the world I
wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
At first I wanted to take my rainbow sticker off my car, and have
nothing to do with it, but the more I thought about it the more I
realized how important of a decision it was and that it had the
power to not only impact me but the community at large.
Ways you can help with the fagbug campaign?
If you’d like to donate to my fagbug cross-country trip please send
a check to Erin Davies / PO Box 683 / Albany, NY 12201
Another way to help is to buy a fagbug rainbow sticker and put it
on your car! They are available through www.fagbug.com.
Stay tuned,
Erin Davies
Fagbug Driver