I'm pretty sure it gives some homophobes road rage when they drive by it...

[Playinghardball]

[Auggie]

1. Wonderful. Where is it?

[Playinghardball]

5. Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center

http://mglcc.org/

[joeybee12]

2. Tennessee?

LOTS of heads exploding there! knr

[Change has come]

3. K&R

[ismnotwasm]

4. K&R

Stealing and reposting on FB

[Mr.Bill]

6. Best part is who owns the billboard.

Clear Channel.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. Bwahahaha! I missed that!

Great catch.

[calimary]

11. Yep! LOVE that!!!

[rurallib]

12. going to comment on that

Does Bain still own ClearChannel?
CC must be desperate.

[alp227]

22. Clear Channel runs an outdoor ad company in addition to radio.

I don't think it's desperation. CBS also has an outdoor division too.

[Cirque du So-What]

32. Frankly, I'm surprised

that CC accepted that ad for one of their billboards, but I'm glad they did. The thought of homophobic tummy-churning, seething rage is sublime.

[Ian_rd]

7. Oh fuck to the yes!

[William769]

9. Kick & recommended.

[TxDemChem]

10. I love it!

It nearly brought me to tears. I have gay relatives who have served and who are serving and I couldn't be more proud of all of our soldiers. Absolutely wonderful!

[shenmue]

13. Yay!

Win and awesome!

[yuiyoshida]

14. K&R

awesome.

[gopiscrap]

15. I love it

[George II]

16. Amazingly (if it wasn't photoshopped) this appears on a CLEAR CHANNEL billboard! Hooray!

[Newsjock]

17. Looks like you're right

From September 2009:
http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=11205148

A Memphis billboard featuring a gay soldier was ripped to shreds by vandals Friday night.

The billboard was part of a campaign for National Coming Out Day, which takes place annually on October 11. The campaign's purpose is to promote understanding of issues affecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community in the Mid-South.

The billboard located at Poplar and High near Downtown Memphis pictured a marine and read,"I'm gay and I protected your freedom."

Previously on DU2: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x146904

[shebornik]

21. Vandals never learn

That their violence only brings more attention to what frightens them. Great billboard!

[laundry_queen]

18. Love it! nt

[rtassi]

19. Glad he was able to serve ...

if that was his desire … but what freedoms of mine did he protect exactly?

[treestar]

26. FCOL

To right wingers, the military does protect their freedom. It's a mind freeze for them.

[Smarmie Doofus]

27. Point.

If I had some expendable cash I'd rent ( Fuck, I'd *buy*) a billboard around here w. my own pic and this:

"I'm gay and I marched in the streets to end these demented fucking wars."

That won't play in Memphis ( Hell, it won't play *here*.) so I'm giving this OP a k and r.

[weissmam]

33. Question

If you have to ask that then you obviously never took a US History Class..

[NYC_SKP]

20. Recommended. (nt)

[tblue]

23. Touché! nt

[SkyDaddy7]

24. For some reason I can't see the pic??

Got a link?

[Rebellious Republican]

25. Thought I heard some explosions down here in Florida seemed to be coming from north of me...

Was wondering, nothing on the news, now I know!

[Martin Eden]

28. He's Gay, and he put his Life on the Line in our Armed Services ...

... but when was the last war our military fought against an actual threat to our freedom?

[weissmam]

34. Dosn't matter

Do you have any idea how many SM are injured and or killed in the line of duty during peace time every month. Probably not-

There are US troops training and on guard all over the world 24 hours a day 365 days a year to answer your question, They are involved in humanitarian and peace keeping duties all over the world every day no to mention diplomatic security,

[Martin Eden]

36. I said right up front he put his ife on the line.

So I don't see where we disagree, because you did not dispute the point of my post about threats to our freedom.

A constant meme of rightwingers and warhawks has been that we've been fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc to protect our "freedom" at home (the old "freedom ain't free" response to any complaints about the wasted sacrifice of good people like the man on that billboard).

And I get it; turnabout is fair play -- throw it right back in their face to show their hypocrisy towards our LGTB citizens.

But the larger point I'm trying to make here is that if we are ever to reverse the militarism of US foreign policy we need to expose the fact that the wars we've been getting into have not been to promote the interests of the average American citizen or to protect our freedom.

[MoonRiver]

29. Truth sometimes hurts!

[lupinella]

30. K&R n/t

[Zorra]

31. Rec nt

[arthritisR_US]

35. That's excellent, reality bites! :) nt