As I flip through the sales display at Old Timey Photos, it occurs to me that the queer community is not part of this establishment’s target audience. There are sample photos of everyone else–children, straight couples, Blacks, Hispanics, people of Arab descent, Asians, interracial couples and handicapped people, but not Queers. And that’s when I made my second realization: that the wedding chapels, who had proudly advertised that they conducted same-sex commitment ceremonies two years earlier, are no longer putting out the rainbow welcome mat. In fact, I haven’t stumbled across one single gay pride trinket or so much as two men’s names airbrushed on a kitschy t-shirt display since we arrived in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. As far as I can tell, Queer people just don’t spend money in Gatlinburg.
That’s absurd, right? We’re everywhere. Plus, it’s not like gay couples don’t vacation in The Great Smokey Mountains. Pigeon Forge is home to Dollywood, after all, and the streets are literally lined with dinner theatres and outlet stores. I understand that this particular vacation spot is in Appalachia, and that Southerners, in general, are not as liberal-minded when it comes to matters of diversity as, say, people from New York, but this is The Most Visited National Park in the United States, with literally millions of visitors from all over the world passing through these streets on an annual basis. One would think that the local vendors, much like the vendors of New Orleans, would have become more accommodating by osmosis.
In their defense, the Queer community is just as invisible in other aspects of mainstream culture. I mean it’s not like I can buy a gay pride t-shirt at Walmart or receive a K-Mart flyer in the mail with a same-sex couple or a transman on the front. In fact, far too many small town residents still think of us as being “Those people from San Francisco” or “That one oddball guy at work;” and issues such as Same-sex Marriage are considered liberal social battles being played out in blue states up North. Many Southerners mistakenly assume that these battles never affect the people here.
The point I’m trying to make is twofold. For starters, it’s time for retailers to start assuming the social responsibilities that accompany all the wealth and power that we, as consumers, give them. Think about it. If companies are willing to pay millions of dollars for a three-second ad during the Super Bowl, it stands to reason that marketing influences people, and that an effective advertising campaign could very easily alter the public’s perceptions of the queer community. Companies such as McDonald’s are already airing successful gay-themed ads in places like France and Switzerland, and many American companies, such as Bud Light, have been advertising in gay media and sponsoring pride events for decades. But the question remains, which companies will be innovators who publicly embrace and celebrate the lgbtq community?
And my other point is that we, as queers, need to speak out against these injustices whenever and wherever possible. The time to be invisible and to simply settle for second best is over. It may seem petty at times, but we need to remain diligent in coming out of our closets whenever the opportunity presents itself, and we need to encourage our elected officials and our celebrated celebrities to do the same. We also need to put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. For instance, Jonathan and I just spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 on a three-day getaway to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, where the “Family Vacation” mentality prefers that we remain invisible–the place where our money doesn’t warrant fighting for, because, apparently, we’ll keep spending it there whether they embrace our diversity or not. I realize now, after it’s too late, that I should have voiced my disappointment to the clerk at Old Timey Photos, and that I should never be so complacent in my invisibility.
But trust me, I’ll remember it the next time I schedule a vacation…
