Glitter bombing
Encyclopedia
Glitter bombing is an emerging act of civil disobedience
in the United States in which activists throw glitter
on people at public events. Glitter bombers have frequently been motivated by their target's anti-gay beliefs. Glitter bombing is "technically assault
and battery
" according to Mark R. Vernazza, a legal associate at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
, although Vernazza also states that without proof of intent to injure, prosecution is unlikely.
magazine's Stephen Spencer Davis wrote that glitter bombing "could be the most fabulous form of protest ever".
Former US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
compared glitter bombing to assault and stated that "The people ought to be arrested who did that. That’s an assault."
, William McKinley High School teacher and Glee Club director Will Schuester
glitter bombs cheerleading coach and candidate for the United States House of Representatives
Sue Sylvester
as a protest against her support for cutting federal funding for the arts in public schools. The tactic backfires, as Sue sees a boost in her poll numbers after the event is posted to YouTube
.
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
in the United States in which activists throw glitter
Glitter
Glitter describes an assortment of very small pieces of copolymer plastics, aluminum foil, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, bismuth oxychloride or other materials painted in metallic, neon and iridescent colors to reflect light in a sparkling spectrum...
on people at public events. Glitter bombers have frequently been motivated by their target's anti-gay beliefs. Glitter bombing is "technically assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
and battery
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
" according to Mark R. Vernazza, a legal associate at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm was formed by the 2005 merger of Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer & Dodge LLP...
, although Vernazza also states that without proof of intent to injure, prosecution is unlikely.
Targets
- Newt GingrichNewt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
— The former Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the House of Representatives-National governments:* Speaker of the House of Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda* Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives* Speaker of the House of Representatives of Belize* Speaker of the House of Representatives...
and his wife CallistaCallista GingrichCallista Louise Gingrich, née Bisek is the wife of former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, and the President of Gingrich Productions, a multimedia production company based in Washington, DC....
were showered with glitter at a book signing in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
on May 17, 2011. Nick Espinosa dumped a full box of glitter on them, shouting "Stop the hate!" and "Feel the rainbow, Newt!" - Tim PawlentyTim PawlentyTimothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
— Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota and a potential 2012 United States presidential candidate, was showered with glitter and pink feathers by Nancy Mancias and Chelsea Byers, two members of the anti-war coalition CODEPINKCode PinkCode Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
. He was targeted at a book signing in San Francisco on June 16, 2011, with the perpetrators stating that Pawlenty's "homophobic attitude" and opposition to recognition of same-sex unions in MinnesotaRecognition of same-sex unions in MinnesotaMinnesota has legalized neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions. Same-sex marriage is banned by statute, passed by the legislature in 1997 shortly after passage of the federal Defense of Marriage Act....
motivated them. - Michele BachmannMichele BachmannMichele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
— Bachmann, a member of the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Minnesota and a 2012 presidential candidate, was glitter bombed in Minneapolis on June 18, 2011, by Rachel E. B. Lang with the support of the LGBT-interest organizations GetEQUALGetEQUALGetEQUAL is an American non-profit organization and advocacy group which advocates for LGBT social and political equality through confrontational but non-violent direct action.-Mission statement:GetEQUAL's mission is as follows:...
and COLAGEChildren Of Lesbians And Gays EverywhereCOLAGE is an organization, created in 1989 by the children of several lesbian and gay male couples who felt a need for support. Though its membership is not necessarily lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning -identified, COLAGE's focus on the issues of LGBT parents' families makes...
. Lang was motivated by Bachmann's anti-gay sentiment and her support for a ministry that opposes LGBT issues. - Bachmann & Associates — Michele Bachmann's husband Marcus Bachmann is a therapist whose clinical practices, in particular his practicing reparative therapyReparative TherapyConversion therapy, sometimes called reparative therapy or reorientation therapy, is one type of sexual orientation change effort that attempts to change the sexual orientation of a person from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual. These types of therapies have been a source of intense...
designed to change the sexual orientation of patients from homosexual to heterosexual, drew scrutiny during his wife's 2012 presidential campaign. Activists dressed as barbarianBarbarianBarbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
s (a reference to a comment by Marcus Bachmann analogizing homosexuality to barbarism) glitter bombed Bachmann & Associates' Minnesota office on July 21, 2011 to protest the Bachmanns' stances on LGBT issues. - Minnesota for Marriage — an organization that favors passing a constitutional amendment disallowing same-sex marriage in Minnesota, the group was glitter bombed at the 2011 Minnesota State Fair on September 4, 2011, by Minnesotans United for All Families, which opposes the amendment.
- Political consultant Karl RoveKarl RoveKarl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
and Minnesota Congressman Erik PaulsenErik PaulsenErik Paulsen is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives...
were both glitter bombed on October 7, 2011 at two separate events. - Sex advice columnist and social commentator Dan SavageDan SavageDaniel Keenan "Dan" Savage is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social conservatives, as in...
was glitter bombed on November 1, 2011 at the University of Oregon, Eugene. The glitter bombers identified themselves as the "Dan Savage Welcoming Committee" and stated their action was in response to alleged transphobiaTransphobiaTransphobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards transsexualism and transsexual or transgender people, based on the expression of their internal gender...
on Savage's part. Savage was hit again on November 9 at a talk at the University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, IrvineThe University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, again for allegedly transphobic remarks.
Response
SlateSlate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
magazine's Stephen Spencer Davis wrote that glitter bombing "could be the most fabulous form of protest ever".
Former US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
compared glitter bombing to assault and stated that "The people ought to be arrested who did that. That’s an assault."
In fiction
In the Season 3 premiere of GleeGlee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, William McKinley High School teacher and Glee Club director Will Schuester
Will Schuester
William "Will" Schuester, often referred to as Mr. Schue, is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Matthew Morrison and has appeared in Glee since its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Will was developed by Glee...
glitter bombs cheerleading coach and candidate for the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Sue Sylvester
Sue Sylvester
Susan "Sue" Sylvester is a fictional character of the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jane Lynch, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Sue was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian...
as a protest against her support for cutting federal funding for the arts in public schools. The tactic backfires, as Sue sees a boost in her poll numbers after the event is posted to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.