Gay Activists Drops "F-Bomb" on Prop 8, "STR8 Talk on Gay Marriage" Viral Video Gets Over 2.8 Million Views, Sells Over 30,000 T-Shirts & Raises $150,000 to Fight for Marriage Equality
FCKH8.com's humorous F-word-filled video brings together swearing drag queens & 8 year-olds to raise funds through T-shirt sales. Site garners over 71,000 Facebook fans & 13,000 Twitter followers in 2 weeks.
Los Angeles, CA - October 25, 2010 — Furious about California's anti-gay marriage Prop 8, gay activists have put a new twist on charity fundraising with a video "F-Bomb-A-Thon" that's raising both eyebrows and funds to help secure equal marriage rights. The F-word-filled viral video from FCKH8.com features a cross section of people, including a 5-year old child, drag queens and an old woman, using the forbidden four-letter word to take the "Prop 8 homo H8ers" to task. The no-holds-barred clip shows people wearing pink and white T-shirts that read "FCKH8", "Some Dudes Marry Dudes. Get Over It." and "Some Chicks Marry Chicks. Get Over It." The T-shirts are sold on the video's website starting at $13 each, with $5 going directly to four legal and electoral campaign organizations working to overturn Prop 8 in court and at the ballot box. The website also sells bumper stickers and buttons to help spread its message.
The controversial and sometimes caustic video rails against gay marriage foes with lines like, "The christian f*cking right, you've got it all f*cking wrong", "It's OK for Rush Limbaugh to be on his fourth f*cking wife, but if Kathy wants to marry Karen that's an attack on the institution?", and a little girl exclaiming, "Don't f*ck with my two gay dads."
Video producer Luke Montgomery hopes to raise at least $250,000 from T-shirt sales to directly aid the mainstream gay legal groups he calls "the kids brave enough to stand up to the Prop 8 ballot box bullies." Organizers report that orders have poured in from across the globe with supporters buying T-shirts from countries including Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador and Thailand.
Montgomery says, "There's a lot of anger out there and people need to vent about the hateful and homophobic intent behind Prop 8. The FCKH8.com video and T-shirts are all about using some negative language to do something positive." He adds, "I got tired of yelling at the TV when watching news coverage about gay marriage so I created this video to allow people to yell back at Prop 8. It's both therapeutic and funny to see people, including an 4-year old and an old lady, go off in an F-bomb-laced tirade about Prop 8. It's all about using a bad word for a good cause."
While some may find the video's use of swearing children offensive, Montgomery responds saying "What's truly offensive is not a four-letter word but ballot box bullies beating up on gays on election day and stripping us of our constitutional rights." He adds, "These grown up bullies are not content with just calling us 'fag' or 'dyke' and driving gay kids to suicide, they are working to destroy our families by going after things like emergency hospital visitation, custody of our children and access to spousal health care benefits."
The video producer is focusing heavily on word of mouth to spread the video from friend to friend and using social media including Twitter and Facebook to build support. "This video really taps into a nerve and says what many people think in a way that our mainstream gay organizations just can't say it. That's why millions have watched the video and have shared it with their friends on YouTube. It's really blown up on Twitter and Facebook. People are pissed off. Gay or straight, this video is uniting people to say 'FCKH8'."
Video can be seen at: FCKH8.com
