YouTube fashion diva William Sledd posted a Gay Pride video a week ago and invited viewers to post their own video responses. The 23-year-old's call to arms was answered by the public, including his large legion of fans, who helped to create a veritable online Pride parade.
As of today, Sledd's video has clocked more than 700,000 views and almost 24,000 text comments. But what's really impressive is that he's getting close to having 300 video responses within little more than a week. These homespun testimonies are incredibly lovely expressions about Gay Pride and civil rights.
Delivered with a range of emotion and creativity by people from all walks of life -- including a ton of straight supporters -- the sum of these is nothing less than a tapestry of humanity uploaded to the Web to connect all of us together. What's most inspiring is the number of young people posting, young straight people standing up for their gay friends, as well as brave gay youth who at early ages are able to embrace who they are.
Check out William Sledd's message below, then see my top six favorites. I'll be keeping my eye on them for the rest of the month and will continue to share some of the gems. Feel free to share the URL to one of your faves in the comments below.
William Sledd Says 'Show Your Pride'
And People Do:
See All 'Show Your Pride' Responses
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Comments:
(184)Add a comment
Thursday 28 May
By angelo
europride.tv ist ein Projekt der Studienvertiefung CAST an der Zrcher Hochschule der Knste. Studierende produzieren ein Online-Videoportal rund um die Themen und Events der Europride 2009 in Zrich. http://www.europride.tv
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Sunday 10 June
By Sanford
This is one of the most amazing things I've seen in a long, long time. Thank you, Kenny, for sharing this with us!
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Monday 11 June
By Shazo
LoL
thanx for hving my video (#6-" I'm Gay ") to be one of your favourites ^_^
cheers mate!
HAPPY GAY MONTH!
wait.. is this like...an official...gay site? o_O
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Saturday 16 June
By Kate
Wow, hat is so inspiring, William is a great inspiration and one of my friends recently came out cuz of him, i might not be homosexual, but i support it all the way
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Friday 15 June
By Pots
O My YAhhhh I didnt know their were soo many now im moore happy!
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Friday 15 June
By Johanna
I just wanted to come in and say i am not gay.but i am in like total support of the gay communitiy. Kenny is right, Dont hide who u are to please others! If your gay, and someone doesn't like that, trust me you dont want them in your like because all they will ever do is critizie and degrad you! I have support and Im Showing my Pride!!
Always,
Johanna
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Friday 15 June
By Gemelli
This video was awesome.... i mean who knew a simple little video would get such publicity! CONGRATS Sled! The rainbow hasbeen living hundreds of years, finally other people are able to see it and have to accept it daily! Happy pride kids! Wrap it up!
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Friday 15 June
By Gemelli
This video was awesome.... i mean who knew a simple little video would get such publicity! CONGRATS Sled! The rainbow hasbeen living hundreds of years, finally other people are able to see it and have to accept it daily! Happy pride kids! Wrap it up!
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Friday 15 June
By Nathan
I just wanna say.. Wow.. Hella cool i loved the 6th video the best. Her chipmunk voice is sensational!!
But yes i think everyone, everywhere that is gay should make a video. Maybe it will go national and be on television.
=]
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Friday 15 June
By NY
Wow! good for you! People are wrong to judge just because someone is different from them. It's all about person not the "posers" - if people cant love you for you then kick 'em to the curb. If they can only be your friend cause you're posing as a straight person - then they are not worth having.
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Sunday 17 June
By D
I'm gay and sick of "gay pride". What's to be proud about? That "we are family" song is complete BS. Gay men are cruel to each other and each each other worse than straight people treat us. Why? Because I don't have the right close or the gay hair cut? I'm ashamed to be gay and wish I could be straight. The only good kind homosexual is a lesbian. I've never met a mean, bitter lesbian.
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Sunday 17 June
By >< omg im awesome
I love him, i started a face book group for him like three mths ago because personaly this man is awesome
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Saturday 16 June
By John Hateyofase
Its Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. If everyone was gay humanity would end in less than 100 years. Thanks for inspiring that. Jerk.
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Saturday 16 June
By Megan
Hey guys, just to clear some things up, i am totally 100% straight. I will never turn gay. At all. But here's the thing, before i thought that gay people were messed up and, like, weird. I mean, some gay people do it a little over then usual for attention, like the guy on dancing with the stars, or on so u think u can dance, with the big lips and the "where should i put my mink coat? i will not put it on the ground." But after watching williams vid... I realized that gay people are just us with a dif prospective on life, they prefer different thigs. Like i prefer Paris Hilton over Lindsey Lohan (it was in a poll on aim), so we shouldn't be mean to them cause it took courage to come out and tell people, so when we say mean things to them, its like they wish that they didn't come out, cause then people wouldn't be so mean to them. After watching his vid,(BTW william u r so hot), i wished that i had a gay friend. IDK, their kinda nice, well i havent met one yet but still. Ok, well this is kinda long. IK,lol. TTYL, cya.
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Saturday 16 June
By Sam
I love the second one down on the right side! That one was hillarious... It's great that a lot of people are supporting this thing.
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Tuesday 19 June
By Bill Oldaker
William,
I'm so glad there are people like you in the world to let people know that it is okay to be gay. Our time to shine is coming and it will take people like you to lead the way. You have my support and my freinds as well. Stay well and remember someone cares we all do. God Bless you and yours.
Bill
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Saturday 16 June
By Courtney
I love William Sledd! Hooray for straight allies like me and Kate! Let's make videos, Kate :P
Sorry the last 2 comments didn't have good experiences being gay, but life isn't a bowl of cherries being straight either.
ALLY PRIDE!
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Saturday 16 June
By Will
To #9 - First off I'd like to say that as a gay male myself, I find it a little discouraging that there are homosexuals who have opinions like the one you share. Being homosexual means one thing; liking members of the same sex. There's nothing else to it. There are parts of the stereotype that every person fits into. Plenty of straight men have nice haircuts and/or nice clothing. That itself does not define the entire gay community. Plenty of gay men don't give a damn about their hair or the clothes they wear.
To #10 - Yes, because of this showing of gay pride, everyone is now gay. -sarcasm- First off, keep religion out of the picture. Seperation of church and state has never worked when it comes to gay rights, unfortunately. Given that people are born with a set of genes that will determine whether they are gay or straight, you don't have to worry about people all of a sudden turning gay because of some YouTube videos. Second, the majority of the population will always be heterosexual. Fortunately minority rights, which the GLBT population falls under, are protected by the bill of rights. Unfortunately, homophobic bigots, such as yourself and president Bush, continue to block efforts to promote equality. All we want is to be able to enjoy the same freedoms, protections, and benefits as you do.
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Saturday 16 June
By miali
hello =]
im Emilia
im not gay, but i do support.(:
and these clips are truly inspiring and. =]
amazing.
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Saturday 16 June
By ilina
Omg im not gay......BUT!!!! if that guy was bi i would totally date him
HES HOTT
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