Squandrous

Most of you may have noticed that an adaption of Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama poster has been used on the cover of TIME for their Person of the Year issue. Fairey has also been tapped to create an inaugural poster for the big ceremony next month.

Fairey already has some issues with regards to Obama’s decision to ask Rick Warren to deliver an invocation during the inauguration ceremony, but instead of complaining or boycotting (both would be relatively unproductive) he’s taking a more generous and productive step. From his post:

While I’m on the subject of gay marriage, I will be donating a chunk of the proceeds from an inauguration poster of Obama I was asked to create to the movement to overturn Prop 8. At first I was considering pulling my inauguration poster, but I think re-directing funds from it to put into a cause I care about is actually more constructive.

I’ve been a strong supporter of the No On Prop 8 movement for the past little while — and this month, we celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which hopes to ensure equal rights for everyone regardless of sexual orientation — so I’m really glad that Fairey is supporting the movement as his constructive form of protest.

I understand Obama’s decision to have a diversity of voices (even those that conflict with his own) at the inauguration, but I still cannot support any individual that does not believe in the core and basic fundamental concept of equal rights for all, no matter what their sexual orientation.

Inspired by Fairey, I’ll be making a small donation to No On Prop 8 as my form of protest against Rick Warren’s prominence at the inauguration ceremony as well. After all, the best form of protest is one that actually helps to solve problems instead of causing more of them.