samedi 2 février 2008
Hug a Gay Day!
Comme je vous l'avais annoncé jeudi, aujourd'hui c'est la journée "Hug a Gay Day"!! Cet événement à été créé sur Facebook par Jeromie Williams. Vous êtes chanceux, j'ai contacté ce sympathique jeune homme afin de lui poser quelques questions sur lui et l'événement! Alors voici son interview qui est malheureusement en anglais pour trois raisons, parce qu'il ne parle pas français, parce que je n'ai pas le temps de la traduire aujourd'hui et que je suis absolument certains que tous ceux qui liront ce billet savent lire en anglais!
> Tell us a little bit about you?
I'm Jeromie Williams, a single, 31 year old gay male, originally from Vancouver, BC and have been living in Montreal for just over 2 and a half years now. I work in the video game industry as a Game Designer.
> Tell me what is the Hug a Gay Day?
Hug a Gay Day is meant to be a day where all of us can stop and take a moment to appreciate, support, and recognize all the amazing GLBT people there are around us. It's also a day where those who may feel left out at times or isolated can have someone walk up to them and say "Hey, you matter, come and get a hug".
> Where did you get that idea?
I got the idea to creat the event after seeing a few videos on the internet of people carrying around "Free Hug" signs, and was really amazed by the response of perfect stranges coming up and hugging these people. The smiles on the faces of those people were completely inspiring, and I figured that this could be applied over to a GLBT event and bring some love over to the community.
> Why feb the 2nd?
I chose February 2nd as a show of solidarity for the Hug a Jew Day event that had been started on Facebook, because I feel that both our communites face a lot of the same kind of prejudice and bigotry. It also happened that February 2nd was Groundhog Day which I found to be a little comical and thought it would cause some good hearted curiosity. The standard answer I have been giving people about "Why February 2nd" is "It is a well known fact that if a gay man or woman sees their shadow on Groundhog Day, that it means an extra three weeks of bad fashion around the world. The only way to stop this from happening is to distract them with a hug"
> Are you suprised that there's more then 100 000 people participating on Facebook?
As I write this, there are 96,458 people who have signed up for the even all around the world, and that number absolutely shocks and surprises me. I started out by inviting all my friends in my list to the event, thinking that maybe it would lead to a few hundred or at the very most a few thousand people signing up. I did not expect that the event would have attracted almost 100,000 members and am totally happy and please with the response. It's really amazing.
> How many hugs do you think you will get today?
I know for a fact that I will be getting at least one hug today from my best friend, but this event was never truly about me and how many hugs I could get, I wanted to see how many other people I could get to come together and show a little love for each other.
> Will you do something special like running around with a big sign that says "Free gay hugs" downtown montréal?
I think what I will be doing today is sitting back in front of my lap top and watching as people from all over the world begin posting their photos and videos from their Hug a Gay Day events. When I go downtown tonight I'll be sure to make a point of giving a hug to anyone new who I meet.
> Would you like it to get international next year?
The Hug a Gay Day event, is technically already international simply by the countries all of the members are living in, which is amazing I think too. A Facebook group called The International Hug a Gay Day Group has been created so that planning can start for next year and hopefully make this a much larger success.
> What is your word of advice for all those gays that wanna be hugged today?
I would say the best way to get hugged on Hug a Gay Day is to get out there and start being the one giving the hugs. It's a great way to meet new people, and to show how much you care about the ones you already do know.
> And want about if someone would like to hug you or give you free french lessons, how can he get in touch?
They can get in touch with me at schlamobic@gmail.com
> Tell us a little bit about you?I'm Jeromie Williams, a single, 31 year old gay male, originally from Vancouver, BC and have been living in Montreal for just over 2 and a half years now. I work in the video game industry as a Game Designer.
> Tell me what is the Hug a Gay Day?
Hug a Gay Day is meant to be a day where all of us can stop and take a moment to appreciate, support, and recognize all the amazing GLBT people there are around us. It's also a day where those who may feel left out at times or isolated can have someone walk up to them and say "Hey, you matter, come and get a hug".
> Where did you get that idea?
I got the idea to creat the event after seeing a few videos on the internet of people carrying around "Free Hug" signs, and was really amazed by the response of perfect stranges coming up and hugging these people. The smiles on the faces of those people were completely inspiring, and I figured that this could be applied over to a GLBT event and bring some love over to the community.
> Why feb the 2nd?
I chose February 2nd as a show of solidarity for the Hug a Jew Day event that had been started on Facebook, because I feel that both our communites face a lot of the same kind of prejudice and bigotry. It also happened that February 2nd was Groundhog Day which I found to be a little comical and thought it would cause some good hearted curiosity. The standard answer I have been giving people about "Why February 2nd" is "It is a well known fact that if a gay man or woman sees their shadow on Groundhog Day, that it means an extra three weeks of bad fashion around the world. The only way to stop this from happening is to distract them with a hug"
> Are you suprised that there's more then 100 000 people participating on Facebook?
As I write this, there are 96,458 people who have signed up for the even all around the world, and that number absolutely shocks and surprises me. I started out by inviting all my friends in my list to the event, thinking that maybe it would lead to a few hundred or at the very most a few thousand people signing up. I did not expect that the event would have attracted almost 100,000 members and am totally happy and please with the response. It's really amazing.
> How many hugs do you think you will get today?
I know for a fact that I will be getting at least one hug today from my best friend, but this event was never truly about me and how many hugs I could get, I wanted to see how many other people I could get to come together and show a little love for each other.
> Will you do something special like running around with a big sign that says "Free gay hugs" downtown montréal?
I think what I will be doing today is sitting back in front of my lap top and watching as people from all over the world begin posting their photos and videos from their Hug a Gay Day events. When I go downtown tonight I'll be sure to make a point of giving a hug to anyone new who I meet.
> Would you like it to get international next year?
The Hug a Gay Day event, is technically already international simply by the countries all of the members are living in, which is amazing I think too. A Facebook group called The International Hug a Gay Day Group has been created so that planning can start for next year and hopefully make this a much larger success.
> What is your word of advice for all those gays that wanna be hugged today?
I would say the best way to get hugged on Hug a Gay Day is to get out there and start being the one giving the hugs. It's a great way to meet new people, and to show how much you care about the ones you already do know.
> And want about if someone would like to hug you or give you free french lessons, how can he get in touch?
They can get in touch with me at schlamobic@gmail.com
