Red Symbol of Gay Support on Facebook Is Awesome

Those red equal signs popping up all over Facebook and Twitter in support of gay rights have their share of critics—"meaningless gesture that accomplishes nothing" is a common theme—but Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon says those critics are missing the point. True, the logo, which is a tweaked version of the regular logo of the Human Rights Campaign, is an easy gesture to make and one that reaches only your Facebook friends instead of, say, a Supreme Court justice or a member of Congress.

"Ultimately, we all know that Antonin Scalia gives zero craps what your avatar is," Williams says, but that's the point: "It’s a statement of love and support to the people who matter most—the ones you call your friends. And it’s a sweet, simple, powerful way of showing that when you take the faces off Facebook, you’re left with a lot of big, open hearts." Click for Williams' full column. (More Facebook stories.)