A held hand, rights. A kiss, respect. A hug, understanding.
That’s the incentive behind Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group’s new #HoldTight campaign — urging LGBTQ+ couples to express their love in public, out loud and transparently. And, no, it’s not some corny, PDA-positive campaign — it’s about normalizing the confused, the misunderstood.
The idea’s simple: It’s tempting to break love’s grip in the face of adversity — a troubled glance, a look of disdain— but there’s strength in choosing not to fall subservient to the comfortable, those unwilling to look and love. ANZ’s making the argument that a choice for transparency — authentic expression of one’s love — is the first step in changing anti-gay outlooks.
As I see it, humans are afraid of the unknown — and for a simple, entirely rational reason: confusion insults our intelligence. And, when we’re confused, we’re met with a choice to learn, to enlighten ourselves.
But, sometimes, learning isn’t as easy as opening a book.
It’s conversing. It’s listening. It’s experiencing with a mind unshackled, open to all possibilities.
In short: Learning’s about silencing ourselves — saying, for once, maybe I’ll speak with my empathy, not with argumentation void of real thought.
That’s all easier said than done, though — because seldom do we consciously converse with strangers, especially those of obviously contrasting creeds, colors and convictions. To understand is to spark friendship, a relationship, a dynamic of cosmic proportions — unbiased and welcoming. And, if we can’t do that, then the responsibility falls on the marginalized (shocker, I know).
ANZ’s notion is that normalcy lives in the realm of frequency — and the marginalized ought to up that frequency. If we see something often or hear it commonly, that whole “learning process” becomes forced.
It’s easy to deny gay rights when you can pretend those in passing aren’t gay — or those in passing aren’t relevant to your existence, your daily to-dos. But when hands are held, kisses are received and hugs are exchanged, gay “abnormalities” become a part of each person’s life. That irrational “gay lifestyle” concept becomes a human lifestyle, one of two people of the same sex who happened to just stumble upon an unprecedented romance of beautiful proportions.
So let’s hold hands and forget shame; let’s live the lives we were made to, not the ones we’re told to — from the street corner to the cafe, the bedroom to the boardroom.
mcgurllt14@bonaventure.edu
