Not Slacktivism: Why I Rainbowed My Facebook Profile Picture

I don’t know why anyone else rainbowed their Facebook profile photo, though plenty of folks have their theories, but I know why I rainbowed mine. Whenever there are instances like this – large or small – there is a funny moment as a user of social media when I must decide if I participate in what I know will ultimately be attacked as meaningless at best, or socially reprehensible at worst.

The slacktivist critique asserts that participating in these sorts of social media campaigns costs the participants nothing yet gives them the feeling that they have done something real in service of whatever the campaign is about. I had no illusion when I posted Daffy Duck as my profile picture a few years ago, ostensibly to raise awareness of child abuse, that I was actually participating in any sort of activism. Participating indeed cost me nothing more than a few minutes to find and post a picture, but it also gave me no false rush of activist glee.

In contrast, I rainbowed my Facebook profile picture because I wanted to identify myself as a visible supporter of the rights of LGBT people to marry whom they love, among other rights. It wasn’t an easy choice, and it also wasn’t one I was completely comfortable making. I was drawing attention to myself, of course, but it came from a desire to express in a clear and unequivocal form that I have decided that equality for LGBT people is a good and appropriate thing.

This is not a small deal for me. I wrote a blog post a few years ago outlining my journey to this point of view. Like many people who identify as Christian, I found this issue confusing and upsetting. I believe many people are struggling because of what they believe and have been told their religion teaches about the subject while earnestly desiring to be open and loving to their LGBT friends and family.

This is also not a small deal to some of the people who know me and love me, many of whom are my Facebook friends. I would imagine that a few of my family and friends were appalled when they saw my face smiling through a rainbow. They are part of the reason I did it. Being willing to put myself out there, even in this microscopic way, as a supporter of my friends and family who are LGBT, took a modicum of courage that I will not overstate, but I own. I can’t help thinking maybe my public declaration of my opinion in this way might have caused more than one person I know and love to wonder about their own position on the question, especially if they are as horrified by the Supreme Court ruling as many people are.

Another reason I did it is for my friends and family who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. I wanted them to know that I am willing to identify as one who cares about their struggle. It is easy simply to say that you are a supporter of equal rights when asked; it is another to demonstrate this support openly, and possibly to open yourself to censure from your friends and family who disagree. Again, I acknowledge that mine was a small gesture with comparatively small risk, but I believe it is important.

I would wager that there are probably many people who thought about rainbow-ing their profile photos but didn’t because they were afraid. They were not willing to risk identifying themselves publicly as a supporter in a political environment that is so acrimonious. I can’t say I blame them, and I certainly don’t fault them. I was, however, pretty surprised how many people “liked” my rainbowed profile photo, and I couldn’t help noticing how many of them had not, in fact, rainbowed their own profile photos.

It is terribly easy not to participate at moments like this. By rainbowing my profile photo, I opened myself up to being called silly at best, or, as one commentator asserts, a cultural appropriator who should probably be ashamed of herself. I was also undoubtedly called unflattering things by family and friends who disagree with the Supreme Court ruling. My point is that it would have been way easier for me to lie low on Facebook for a week until the news cycle moved on.

I considered this approach as I was grappling with my fear of rainbowing my profile photo. I don’t want to overstate this fear, as it is barely perceptible compared to that experienced by LGBT people on a regular basis, but it is real, and it was present for me. I can’t imagine how difficult and frightening it must be for them to declare who they are when they finally do, given the significant pause I experienced before identifying myself as a mere supporter.

Changing my profile photo cost me nearly nothing compared to the insult and degradation that my LGBT friends and family have endured, but it did cost me something. It cost me the comfortable neutrality that saying and doing nothing provides. It was about me for sure, but it was not, in fact, slacktivism. I believe my rainbow profile picture did cost me something, and it did actually do something to promote marriage equality among my family and friends – both for those who oppose it and for those who support it. So my rainbow profile picture will stay rainbow for a while, even if I am among those scolded and ridiculed for it.