The Supreme Court's decision that it is unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage, in conjunction with this year's Pride celebration, ushered in a festive weekend full of parades, engagements, colorful cocktails, and rainbow avatars blowing up social media newsfeeds — for the most part. But for some, like Christian evangelist Joshua Feuerstein, Justice Antonin Scalia, a straight person who chose not to employ an LGBT ally to photograph their wedding, and some trolls targeting social media pages ranging from Yahoo!'s to Arnold Schwarzenegger's, Friday was a day of mourning for those good old American family values, Christianity, and everything else bans on same-sex marriages have grown to represent. Some people have had thoughtful and nuanced critiques of our country's emphasis on same-sex marriage as the end-all be-all of LGBT rights. Others have been just plain intolerant and nasty.
But despite all the rainbows everywhere, supporters of SCOTUS's decision are not letting its opponents rain on the Gay Pride Parade. Here are some of the week's most epic takedowns of those who tried to undermine the LBGT couples and activists who fought for and are proud of this huge (though not final) step for our country.
1. IfYouOnlyNews.com's Ben Dixon's hilarious video rebutted Joshua Feuerstein's tasteless rant predicting a "Christian holocaust."
Christian evangelist Joshua Feuerstein's videos and Facebook posts reacting to the SCOTUS decision were not only homophobic but also just plain bizarre, writing (in all caps, as if the statement itself were not emphatic enough), "ITS [sic] THE BEGINNING OF A CHRISTIAN HOLOCAUST!!" Oh, and he also foresees "pastors to be arrested."
First of all, if you're going to use the word "holocaust," the thing you're describing better be pretty damn violent. That is not a word to be bandied about lightly. Secondly, as Ben Dixon put it, Feuerstein's, er, prophecy "is utter, complete bull. It's malarkey. It's dung, if I were to use a biblical phrase." In keeping with the rainbow theme of the occasion, Dixon's rebuttal gets the award for colorful language.
2. Coheed and Cambria created the one good thing that came out of Scalia's dissent: A song.
What better group to satirize Scalia's petty objections than the progressive metal band known for its epic starscapes? "The court's interpretation renders words inoperative" sounds even more melodramatic when set to guitars and Claudio Sanchez's quirky falsetto, but the best part is when the band harmonizes on "Affordable Care Act."
3. Photographer Clinton Brentwood Lee turned a homophobic client's complaint into a donation to GLAAD.
Like many folks who changed their social media avatars to demonstrate support for LGBT couples, Lee changed his business's Facebook profile picture to a rainbow version of its logo and its cover photo to an image of LGBT couples with the words "All we see is love." One of his clients wasn't on board with those decisions, so they messaged him to say they will no longer be soliciting his services for their wedding. "I actually find this to be a good thing because our company now would now not like to work with you as well," he responded, continuing on to address the prospective client's request for their retainer back:
Now as far as your retainer goes, I hope you’ll read the first article in the contract you signed stating that this retainer is nonrefundable. But don’t you worry, I’m not going to keep it! Because of this conversation, I have decided to donate your $1500 to GLAD [sic] [the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation], a group created to help and support gay rights. So let me be the first to say [redacted], thank you very much for your donation and support for this great cause! I couldn’t have done it without your money.
I'll bet you the business he gains from that viral response will far outweigh the one client he lost.
4. Yahoo! threw shade at a client who threatened to protest its public support for same-sex marriage.
Yahoo! also jumped on the bandwagon of companies adding color to their social media avatars, and once again, a few customers were not happy. When one commented "Deleting my Yahoo! account" (which received 1,675 likes but also many disapproving replies), a Yahoo! customer support representative responded with a link to instructions on deleting a Yahoo! account. The message was subtle but crystal clear, and while Yahoo! can certainly survive without the business, it makes a strong statement that they were willing to lose it.
5. Arnold Schwarzenegger responded to a troll in character.
The Governator uploaded some pretty epic photos of his own to social media, and when one former fan wrote "What's wrong with U Arnie? I have to unlike..." and got 293 likes, he appropriately replied, "Hasta la vista," which got a superior 646 likes — because love really does win, and so does The Terminator.
Images: Joshua Feuerstein, Brentwood Photography, Yahoo, Beat Magazine/Facebook
