Students woke up on Valentine's Day to find public areas across campus covered with posters showing gay couples kissing, with the slogan "Love = Love" written in bold letters beneath.
In a campaign organized by the Pride Alliance, more than two dozen people put up nearly 1,000 posters Sunday night to "plaster the campus pink," according to a Pride Alliance email. The posters portrayed various ethnicities, age groups and sexual orientations.
"It's the most ambitious postering campaign we've done so far," said Robert Rich '06, treasurer of the Pride Alliance. "We want to raise the visibility of LGBT couples on campus and generate discussion."
Student reactions ranged from amused to offended.
"Initially, it's kind of shocking," Eleni Azarias '08 said. "But it's a strong way of getting a message across, and in the end, the goal is great."
While a few people agreed with Azarias' opinion that the posters were a bit "in your face" with their message, Lispeth Nutt '06, publicity organizer of the Pride Alliance, said that shock value — and making students realize how uncomfortable they were with homosexual affection — was one of the goals of the Valentine's Day campaign.
"Gay kisses are a much bigger deal that they should be," said Nutt, who is also a member of The Daily Princetonian editorial board. "No one puts out New York Times articles about heterosexual kisses. Until it stops being a source of shock value, we'll know that homophobia is still an issue."
But Turner Batty '08, who is also unaffiliated with the Pride Alliance, said he found the posters in dorms "invasive" and thought that they didn't serve a real purpose.
"Homophobia definitely exists, but I don't think that it's that big an issue in Princeton," he said. "It seems like they're trying to make an issue out of something that isn't a major problem on campus."
Some students also felt that the posters would have a negative effect for the LGBT community.
"If someone is prone to being uncomfortable with the idea of homosexuality, then having the visual image of it in front of them many times a day would just heighten this propensity," Andrew Edelman '05 said.
The people behind the campaign said they had anticipated this response.
"We're not expecting it to change anyone's mind, but at least [the postering] will put it on their minds," said Amy Paeth '08, a member of the Pride Alliance.
Despite reports of posters being taken down, members of the Pride Alliance said they considered the event a success.
"I haven't seen too many people crossing themselves, and there have been no exorcisms outside of Frist as of yet," Nutt said. "So I guess that's a good sign."
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