We Imaginary Girls heart pink. Pink is cute, girlie, sparkly, and retro — all things treasured by all those imaginary. Yet this past May Day we found ourselves speculating how shades of pink can convey ranges of emotion, when thousands of {extremely non-pink} individuals invaded Seattle by the busload to stand up for the so-called "Sanctity of Marriage" at Safeco Field. We attended the counter-protest outside the stadium, and found ourselves spanning the pink spectrum of applicable pink moods, like…
The pink heat of rage…
Not only are church and state separate in this country, but the separation of church and state is reciprocal. Churches can't impose their interpretation of civil law on the government any more than the government can impose its secular views on the churches, temples, and mosques in this country. The erosion of freedoms represented by denying civil liberties based on religious ideology is wrong. And terrifying. And enraging.The pink blush of embarrassment…
While we gleefully carried our "Marriage for All" signs, we couldn't help noticing the decided lack of other heteros in the crowd. We felt painfully-aware that not enough breeder-folks felt this protest was important enough to warrant an early Saturday AM wake-up call.But — wake-up, people: this isn't a gay issue, it's a civil rights issue. "First they came for the gays, and I didn't speak out," indeed! What about when they come for the pacifists? The vegetarians? The indie-rockers?
The pink flush of hope…
Did you know that the Supreme Court didn't vote to prohibit restrictions on interracial marriage until 1967? 'Tis true. So as we rallied with our imaginary friends outside of Safeco's left field (teehee!) amid a sea of smiles, fabulous outfits, wacky placards, and outrageous percussion, we felt a rush of our favorite pink: rosy optimism. One day this entire battle will be another madcap issue we came to overcome as a country. We hope.