Let’s make this clear and concise for the boomers at the back.
This image from a recent Bonds Christmas campaign – which has since sparked a bit of protest online – would leave no qualms at all if it were a straight couple.
There have been a few comments on the Instagram flick along the lines of, ‘Oh, please, think of the children’, but at the end of the day, we all know this has nothing to do with children – we’ve well and truly moved beyond the conversation that exposing a child to gay storylines makes them gay. Give the kids more credit than that. (I, for one, was exposed to a lot of straight content growing up and I still turned out to be extremely gay.)
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To those who are offended by this image, here’s my message for you.
If you’re upset at the nudity, be upset at all nudity. If you’re upset at the kissing, be upset at all kissing in media, television and advertising. You’re not allowed to pick and choose when intimacy does and does not offend you, particularly when it attempts to erase queer expression. If you’re upset about two dudes kissing in an advertisement, but not upset with a straight duo kissing in an advertisement – which there has literally been no protest to ever – then this doesn’t make you a concerned parent, it makes you homophobic.
This has everything to do with a lame attempt at policing LGBTQ+ visibility.
As we witness time and time again, the love obviously overpowers the hate, with the old farts left behind to ruminate amongst themselves.
Kudos to you, Bonds.
