The Great Global Kiss-in: Celebrate Love and Equality in a Kiss-in Near You
The Committee for the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO) and Gays.com have announced the launch of a Great Global Kiss-in to be organised for the first time ever between May 14-17 in major cities around the world.
The idea is simple — A kiss-in is a flash mob of people who agree to meet in a public space at a certain date and time with their boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or partner to kiss. The Great Global Kiss-in calls on all straight, gay, bisexual or transgender people who believe in love and equality to organise or participate in a kiss-in in their city. The goal of the project is to organise kiss-ins on all six continents of the world on the weekend of May 14-17, 2010. Individuals who are unable to take part in a kiss-in near them are invited to send in their kisses via an online video at youtube.com/group/greatglobalkissin, or pictures at the campaign website at gays.com/idaho — these will be used to create a video mashup that will be released at a later date.
The Great Global Kiss-in marks a collaboration between the IDAHO Committee and Gays.com which is spearheading online organising for this project.
Said Joel Bedos, International Coordinator of the IDAHO Committee (www.idahomophobia.org), “Organisations and activists have joined hands from all parts of the world, from Berlin to Bogota, from London to Lima, and from Austin to Auckland, in a great show of solidarity to break down the walls of homophobia and transphobia.”
Kenneth Tan, Director for Online Organising at Gays.com, chimes in, “This is the first time that a kiss-in like this has been attempted on a global scale, and we believe that more can be done through the Internet to get people from all everywhere to come together for causes such as this.”
In 2009, to mark the 6th annual International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia, the IDAHO Committee and Gays.com called on participants to step out in front of the camera and, in their own language, introduce themselves, state where they’re from and how proud they are to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. A total of 359 video submissions was received from 48 countries and used to create an online video that has since gone viral and attracted 300,000 views.
Details for confirmed kiss-ins (as of May 1, 2010) are as follows:
Amiens, France: May 15, 4pm @ Place Gambetta (vers Piéto+)
Auckland, New Zealand: May 15, 2pm @ the base of the Sky Tower
Avignon, France: May 15, 6pm @ Place de l’Horloge
Austin, Texas: May 16, 3pm @ City Hall plaza
Berlin, Germany: Date and venue to be confirmed
Birmingham, Alabama: May 15, 1pm @ Ingman Park
Bogota, Colombia: May 15 @ venue to be confirmed
Edmonton, Canada: May 15, 3pm @ Legislature Grounds
Lille, France: May 15, 6pm @ Grand Place
Lima, Peru: May 16, 4pm @ Parque Central de Miraflores
London, UK: May 16, 3pm @ venue to be confirmed
Madrid, Spain: May 16, 1pm @ Plaza del Callao
Marseille, France: May 15, 3.55pm @ Place Charles De Gaulle
Montpellier, France: May 15, 3.45pm @ Virgin Megastore, Les Halles Castellane
Nice, France: May 17, 7pm @ Place Garibaldi
Orleans, France: May 15, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm @ Place du Martroi
Paris, France: May 16, 4pm @ Buttes Chaumont
Shanghai, China: Date and venue to be confirmed
Tel Aviv, Israel: Date and venue to be confirmed
Toulon, France: May 16, 4pm @ Place de la Liberté
For the latest information on the Great Global Kiss-in, please log on to: gays.com/idaho
Visit the Great Global Kiss-in on Facebook: facebook.com/greatglobalkissin
Follow the Great Global Kiss-in on Twitter: twitter.com/globalkissin
To send us your kisses via video: youtube.com/group/greatglobalkissin
To host a kiss-in in your city, please email Joel Bedos and Kenneth Tan at idaho(at)gays(dot)com