CARNAL NATION

This month's column is by Ricci Levy, Executive Director of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation.

From time to time the Woodhull Freedom Foundation announces, as it did last week, a BuyCott. A few months ago, when anti-sex zealots urged a boycott of McDonald's, we launched our first BuyCott suggesting that sexual freedom supporters who shop at McDonald's buy a second order. We said then:

“The Woodhull Freedom Federation (WFF) says that the McDonald's Corporation's role in joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, giving it a $20,000 donation, and placing one of its executives on the Chamber's board of directors is a strong step toward reinforcing American values including affirming sexual freedom as a fundamental human right as recognized by the US Supreme Court in Lawrence v Texas.

In recognition of McDonalds’ strong support of individual rights and bolstering of the Supreme Court’s affirmation of constitutionally protected sexual diversity WFF urges McDonalds’ customers to regularly make an extra purchase (conduct a buycott) from the fast food chain. These extra purchases also help Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. (RMHC®) support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.

WFF especially welcomes McDonald’s action as further evidence that claims of a “culture war” in America are highly exaggerated. In fact data suggest that wide majorities of Americans are openly tolerant, religiously divers and positively supportive of the rights of their fellow citizens. Often assertions that a “culture war” exists in America are the last gasp cry of fading political leaders seeking to fool their followers.”

Last week, we called attention to an anti-sex attack on three silly Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts that displayed edgy sex cartoons with suggestive captions. We suggested that sexual freedom advocates might want to buy a t-shirt or at least call or email A&F in support of their right to make sexual allusions on their t-shirts. We also offered a message that connected reducing STDs to comprehensive sex education.

Using the dialog from the anti-sexual freedom attackers, we added to it and said (ours is bolded):

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends as appropriate.

Abercrombie & Fitch Pitches New Silly
T-shirts To America's Youth Angering Religious Right

Join the BuyCott  

Call Abercrombie & Fitch at 614-283-6500 (press "0" for a live person) and let them know you support their right to sell and their customers to buy their ‘sex can be fun’ t-shirts.

Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is being attacked by the religious right for selling these three t-shirts as part of its  ‘New College’ line of T-shirts.  

Abercrombie & Fitch does not merely sell a popular line of clothing—they sell a lifestyle. And because A&F clothing is popular among teens and college kids, the influence of their sex-as-recreation lifestyle is widespread.  If you feel like encouraging this lighter side of sex and showing the religious right that this is a free country help the BuyCott--buy one or more of these t-shirts.

FACTS!

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention reports that Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year- almost half of them among young people 15 to 24 years of age.”

In the past decade more than one billion dollars in federal funding has been doled out for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. In contrast, there has been no federal funding at all for comprehensive sex education. Thus the raging STDs?

Whether you buy a t-shirt or not, drop a note to your local school board, state legislators, and your Congress member and Senators, encourage them to fund comprehensive sex education!

Please help us by supporting this important project!

That was how our BuyCott message ended.