New IA marriage ad is effective, but where are the people of color? #iagaymarriage
I lived in Iowa for three years, admittedly working as a reporter in a pretty white bread town. And certainly, Iowa is not exactly a bastion of diversity. Still, I can't help but lament what is lacking from this advertisement.
On the whole, I think it was tremendously effective. I think it tapped into the spirit of Iowa and really captured the state's essence. But trust me, I knew many African American, Asian and Spanish-speaking gay men in Iowa -- and they all had family in the state too.
Not to get too simplistic here, but should anybody act surprised if people of color were slow to embrace the gay rights movement? I mean seriously, if I were a person of color in Iowa -- gay or straight -- what in this advertisement would connect with me? Not much.
Making non-white people invisible is a terrible strategy -- regardless of any state's demographics (Iowa is 91 percent, non-Hispanic). Hopefully this is something that will be rectified in future advertisements. I don't think the gay rights movement as a whole will ever have widespread success if it continues isolating/ignoring entire groups of people.
