FCKH8 Takes Aim at Bullies

Activist and producer Luke Montgomery first took aim at bigotry in October with his “FCK Prop 8” video. Two months, millions of page views and thousands of dollars later, the FCKH8 campaign is back, this time with a profanity-laced message against bullying.

The new video features a Pussycat Doll, YouTube sensation "Kelly,” drag queens, senior citizens, and a little girl, all of whom yell expletives while wearing purple and white T-shirts with messages that read "FCKH8," “Don't B H8N on the Homos,” and “STR8 AGAINST H8.”As with  the “FCK Prop 8” video, part of the T-shirt sales benefit LGBT nonprofit organizations — in this case, groups that fight antigay bullying and youth suicide.

Montgomery, a 36-year-old nonprofit marketing professional in Los Angeles, said the FCKH8 campaign grew from frustration with being nice in the face of mounting attacks against LGBT people. A victim of a hate-related beating that hospitalized him with a concussion when he was 16 years old, he wanted to offer therapy and catharsis.

“We’re always having to censor ourselves and ask politely for people to like us and care about us,” he said. “No! We’re f-bombing hate. And we’re having fun doing it.”

In the process the campaign has also generated controversy over its approach and content. The new video includes a 4-year-old girl who screams, “If I grow up lesbo, do you want me to FCKing get gay bashed?”

FCKH8. “It Gets Better” it ain’t.

While he acknowledged the in-your-face strategy might not suit everyone’s taste, Montgomery argued there is a need for it, even among LGBT people who may not want to admit it.

”This is how I feel and this is how millions of other people feel,” he said. “It’s honest. There are all sorts of honest messages out there. But we edit ourselves. We get pushed around.”

Indeed, FCKH8 has found a global audience for its campaign almost
entirely through viral marketing with word of mouth, e-mail, and sites
like Facebook since the first video premiered two months ago. It began
with a single YouTube upload, Montgomery said he has sold more than
40,000 T-shirts to locations as far-flung as North Korea while raising
almost $250,000 between the two campaigns, with contributions made or
being planned to the Trevor Project, the Safe Schools Coalition, the
American Foundation for Equal Rights, Equality California, Courage
Campaign, and Lambda Legal.