LGBT community stages massive kiss at Piedmont Park Saturday
August 14, 2009 at 4:47 pm by Patrick Saunders in NewsThe location is set, permits have been secured and lips are being puckered as upwards of 1,000 participants are expected to gather Saturday at 2 p.m. in front of the visitor’s center at Piedmont Park to take part in the Great Nationwide Kiss-In.
Atlanta is one of over 50 cities across the country that will simultaneously engage Saturday in lip-locking — a grassroots-led response to incidents in Salt Lake City and El Paso where gay couples were arrested or kicked out of restaurants for sharing a brief kiss.
Surveillance video of the Salt Lake City incident:
While the sheer size of the crowd expected in the park for the event tomorrow is striking enough, it’s even more surprising that the event was organized by a 17-year-old.
Alex Oxford, a senior at Marietta’s Wheeler High School, was inspired by the actions of gay rights bloggers David Badash and David Mailloux, who organized the national event.
He was also moved to action after other cities started signing on to take part.
“After two or three weeks, [the Great Nationwide Kiss-In] spread across the country to people who were willing to devote some time, effort and a bit of money to the cause, so I just saw it and said, ‘Well, why don’t we have one in Atlanta? I can do this,’” Oxford says. “So I started the website and started making some fliers and telling friends, and it all took off from there.”
Reaction to the event has been swift over the last few weeks, but not all of it positive.
“At school, the reaction has been, well, I’m just doing the protest because I’m the regular faggot kid. But they can say whatever they want; I’ve still got my friends. All of my friends are attending, and they totally support everything.”
Oxford doesn’t come across as angry or bitter, though. He speaks in calm, thoughtful tones about what he hopes will be accomplished with the Kiss-In: “Hopefully, people see it for what it is and talk about it among themselves and hopefully reach more accepting conclusions about the LGBT community.”
Oxford also wanted to make clear that straight couples are invited to take part in the Kiss-In to show their support.
“I definitely want to see members of the community, particularly younger ones, stepping up to the plate and organizing events, whether it be at their school or college or even just talking with their friends about gay issues and being the impetus for that,” says Oxford.
“You just have to find the courage within to do what you want to do.”
Leave a Reply