Sarah's Fun Fact Friday!!! NOH8

This Fun Fact Friday I thought I would dedicate to NOH8, as they celebrated their 3rd Birthday this week and were started to protest the ban on gay marriage in California. At some point Laura & I would love to move to America - in particular Idaho, which is on the California side, so the more states allowing gay marriage the more likelihood of us being able to marry and get Laura home. (Fun fact? haha)

On November 4, 2008 Proposition 8 passed in California, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The defeat provoked outrage and a groundswell of initiative within the GLBT community at a grassroots level, with many new political and protest organisations being formed in response and ready to fight against the ban.

If you haven't seen the The NOH8 Campaign it is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net/) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolising their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest.

We had our photo taken in the first ever London photo shoot in the heart of SOHO! Adam could not have been nicer and we were excited to be a part of such an amazing cause!

It has been three years since its inception, the NOH8 Campaign has grown to over 18,000 faces and continues to grow at an exponential rate. The campaign began with portraits of everyday Californians from all walks of life and soon rose to include politicians, military personnel, newlyweds, law enforcement, artists, celebrities, and many more. If you have time flicking through their website you will spot SO many faces you recognise.

The NOH8 Campaign has received overwhelming support from around the world, and has appeared in various local and national news programs and publications. The images are widely used on various social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the message of equality. Eventually the images will be compiled for a large-scale media campaign.

The latest publicity came through a photo of gay rights icon Harvey Milk, compiled of 10,000 NOH8 photos (see if you can find us.....i'm kidding that would be silly :))

By the end of 2010 more than 13,000 faces were included in the campaign after 22 open shoots that were held in 17 different US cities.

The proceeds from the November 2011 music video Attention Please by Darryl McDaniels of Run–D.M.C. and actress Pauley Perrette of NCIS are donated to the NOH8 campaign. She has also supported NOH8 by providing memorabilia for auction and with awareness-raising efforts such as wearing a NOH8 dress to the People's Choice Awards in 2011 and adding a silent protest photo as the background and profile pic on her official Twitter account. (Did we mention we slightly LOVE Pauley Perrette!)

So this week's SFFF wasn't the usual, but we hope you learned something new and look out for a NOH8 photoshoot near you to show your support!

Until next time, Sarah & Laura xo