Online Activism: The LGBT Civil Rights Movement

Although there is ultimately a need for safety and protection, change does demand action. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive. The spread in popularity of social media has not only created safe spaces but has clearly produced an uprising of cyberactivism. The base of LGBT activism, in particular, is that at the root of all things – people are all people. Humans are all connected in some way and this connection is particularly noticeable through online relation chains. Through connections on social media, people become more and more aware that LGBT folk aren’t a separate entity and that all humans are connected. By hosting profile pictures and relationship links, “Facebook literally puts a human face on the LGBT civil rights movement”

This statement is false. Activism over the internet is conducted by real, physical people and, just by that fact, effects the physical world by impacting the people who live within it. Online activism gives a chance for people who may not be in the traditional stream for politics to become increasingly involved with it by speaking to an increasingly growing audience. People who may have given up on the state of mainstream politics may find rekindled hope in online activism. For example, DeRay Mckesson – a civil rights activist who found his following through twitter, is running for mayor of Baltimore. Stating that “we cannot rely on traditional pathways to politics and the traditional politicians who walk that path” (Eligon), Mckesson displays how politics have evolved with technology and how the evolution of social media has allowed a new form of politicians, arising from the common people, to emerge. An additional example of online activism and politics causing a direct effect on mainstream politics can be found in a candidate for the United States presidency named Bernie Sanders. Sanders was originally given little notice by mainstream media (Whitacker), but as the internet spread information of his candidacy and built a support base around him, mainstream media had little choice but to give Sanders air-time. Although they do still hold

With the internet – it is both easy and, generally, free to find news specific to a certain community that is not overshadowed by news only about privileged groups. There are specific news sites completely dedicated to the LGBT community. For instance, the Advocate (Advocate) is a digital news source which provides daily coverage about the LGBT community. Due to the existence of these sites, people in the LGBT community can more easily find representation in the media and see that LGBT people are capable of achieving things just as well as others. An essential part of media, representation is what determines what a child views the world through. Media is supposed to reflect and represent real life in some way – stories, no matter what kind, are always about people. When a child views media and does not see themselves, that can severely limit what they feel they are capable of later in life. An example of this can be found in the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. At a young age, girls are just as interested in STEM subjects as boys but the older they get and the more society and media disapproves, the more they reject STEM subjects (National Girls Collaborative). Who one believes they can be significantly impacts who they become. By creating representation for LGBT people, LGBT kids can feel as if they are able to achieve something outside of