My jamming philosophy was to suggest how a seemingly “inclusive” advertisement actually excludes many groups of people. I didn’t have to change much since the original advertisement already embodies so many features of homonormativity. It’s difficult to read but the caption on the top right corner says, “Will you promise to never stop completing my sentences or singing off-key, which I’m afraid you do often? and will you let today be the first sentence of one long story that never, ever ends?” Instead I changed it to “Will you promise to never stop adhering to what has been deemed the acceptable way to be gay? And will you let our social privilege continue to advance our equality while others are left behind?” This is a much realer and more blunt description of such an ad and speaks to the lack of gay character diversity in the majority of popular “gay” advertisements. Essentially, I’m aiming to explain how due to their perceived identity this type of homosexuality would be accepted and perhaps even glorified by mainstream culture. As Laura Kacere in Homonormativity 101 said, this can lead to “leaving many people out of the movement toward greater sexual freedom and equality” as this particular group is the only one advancing. This intersectionality of gender, race, sexuality, etc. ultimately creates a hierarchy within the LGBTQ community, with the “most privileged” at the top. I also changed the colors of the rings to a red and blue tint (the colors that are culturally assigned to males and females) to emphasize just how heteronormative the social act they are conforming to (marriage) is.

In no way am I faulting gay people who conform to more normative standards, and I’m certainly not against gay people getting married. I’m simply pointing out that advertisements like this don’t eliminate “the other” population in our society, it just changes who “the other” is. It’s important for companies to acknowledge and display all spectrums of the LGBTQ+ so all queer people can advance with equality together.

everydayfeminism .com/2015/01/homonormativity-101/