Jessica Jin, a student at UT Austin, is organizing a protest in response to Texas’ new law that will allow concealed carry of licensed handguns on public college campuses with an open carry event of her own — with dildos. Now the hashtag #CocksNotGlocks is bringing people on both sides of the issue out en force.
Next summer, Texas public university campuses will no longer be “gun-free zones” thanks to a bill that was recently signed into law allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons on school grounds. The law comes during a particularly tense time: Just last week, two school shootings happened on the same day — one in Arizona, the other in Houston. Before that, 10 were killed and nine more injured during a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
In 2017, the “campus carry” law in Texas will extend to community colleges as well.
More: America’s gun problem in 7 startling images
It goes without saying that the bill is controversial, even in gun-loving Texas, where one professor has already quit, citing fear for her safety. Another reaction to the law? A “strap-in” organized by UT student Jessica Jin, who is inviting students to strap large dildos to their backpacks on the first day of school. Why? Well, because, as Jin rightly points out, there is something massively (ha!) absurd about the fact that students will be able to carry loaded weapons on school grounds but could face penalties for carrying a relatively harmless sex toy.
Jin created a Facebook event page for the protest, Campus (DILDO) Carry, where she explains her reasoning, and it’s pretty hilarious:
“The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it DOES have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence. You would receive a citation for taking a DILDO to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class. Heaven forbid the penis.”
She then goes on to cite the UT disciplinary and Texas state penal codes, which prohibit “obscene displays or distribution,” under which the waving of an enormous Clone-A-Willy or realistic silicone dual dong would almost certainly fall. Then Jin drops the mic, saying:
“‘You’re carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I’m carrying a HUGE DILDO.’ Just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play.”
More: A Northern Arizona University alumna reacts to the tragic shooting
Of course, people who disagree with Jin are voicing their displeasure with well-reasoned arguments and cool heads. Just kidding — they’re threatening to kill her and are just generally acting like Dumpster trolls.
One user, Reggie Buckwald, said, “Nothing like modern-day, attention-starved American women. I guess a dildo is lighter than a mattress, neh?” a reference to rape survivor Emma Sulkowicz’s senior thesis project.
Or, as user Kerrick Daniels eloquently put it: “This is f***ing stupid. You’re all f***ing stupid. There has literally been a school shooting a day over the last few weeks. If I were still in college I would ABSOLUTELY conceal carry yo [sic] class. Stupid f***ing hipster hippies. Peace love and get shot down cause you carry a dildo instead of protection.”
But other reactions have been really positive:
Great hashtag or greatest hashtag ever? #cocksnotglockshttps://t.co/KvP4ADYLwr
— Jamie Miller (@jamiefriggin) October 11, 2015
#CocksNotGlocks
America. Sex is good. Shooting each other is not.http://t.co/ferzga2siQ
— Rachel Reub (@RachelDelmar) October 11, 2015
More: Northern Arizona University becomes site of America’s 46th school shooting this year
There is a point to be made regarding the way we venerate violence and vilify sex in our culture. On TV or in movies, it’s not uncommon to see someone beaten to a pulp or riddled with bullets, but the very idea of a stray nipple or orgasmic moan has people clutching their pearls so hard that they risk decapitation.
If one of the goals of #CocksNotGlocks was to start a conversation about this disparity, it’s definitely been successful so far. It’s just a shame some folks can use humor and reason to get their point across, while others have to throw around death threats and slurs to the same end.
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