Let me hope I am never a pansy...

Let me introduce to you an amazing art project that just added me on Twitter. Meet The Pany Project, a group out of the UK that places pansies on the sites of homophobia all over the world. It's really quite a beautiful thing.

From their blog:

I am reluctant to say that the main stream media is guilty of homophobia though this discrepancy seems more than coincidental. This persistent omission could be read in a variety of ways; is homophobia so uninteresting to the heteronormative mass that attacks on gay people are not worthy of column inches? Is gayness still seen as a lifestyle ‘choice’ so homophobically motivated attacks are considered a consequence of these choices that lie outside of the ‘norm’? Whatever the reason the result is that as a culture we see that some level of homophobia is acceptable, tragically it is only when the worst cases shock us that our shackles are raised. I believe that all homophobia is deeply offensive; it is a terrible tragedy that Michael Causer has died as a result of the homophobically motivated attack though anecdotally it seems that many of us have had lucky escapes.

What has struck me throughout my work on The Pansy Project is the difference in which gay people respond to the experience of homophobia on the street, some wither, some fight, others run, though most accept it and move on. Determined not to let it ruin their lives, keen to brush it off as one of life’s inconveniences, this is admirable for those strong enough to fend off the bullying few. Though what of the people less able or willing to fend off two or three oppressors such as the Michael Causer case? What is clear to me is that homophobia is generally acceptable to one degree or another. From “That’s ‘gay’ that is!” in the classroom to a Chris Moyles jibe on the radio to vicious targeted attack on the street, every insult based in bias is utterly unacceptable.

Something to spend your time looking through. It looks relatively new, and the photography is stunning.