FAGBUG
(2011)
LGBT VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
Erin Davies was attending an event in support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-gender rights when she walked back to her car and discovered her Volkswagen Beetle had been vandalized – someone had spray painted FAG across one side and U R GAY on the other.
Davies was shocked and angered, but rather than simply have her car repainted, she chose to use the event to raise public awareness of hate crimes against the LGBT community. Davies mapped out a road trip visiting 58 cities across the United States, some with supportive LGBT communities and others in locations where anti-gay hate crimes had occurred in the past.
Davies brought along a small camera crew to document the reactions to her defaced automobile, and Fagbug is a documentary that charts the progress of Davies’ trip across the country, as well as recording how people responded, both positively and negatively, to the provocative statement presented by her car. Fagbug was an official selection at the 2009 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.
OR
On the 11th Annual National Day of Silence, Erin Davies was victim to a hate crime in Albany, New York. Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on her VW Beetle, Erin's car was vandalized, left with the words "fag" and "u r gay" placed on the driver's side window and hood of her car. Despite initial shock and embarrassment, Erin decided to embrace what happened by leaving the graffiti on her car.
She took her car, now known worldwide as the "fagbug," on a 58-day trip around the United States and Canada. Along the way, Erin discovered other, more serious hate crimes, had people attempt to remove the graffiti, and experimented with having a male drive her car. After driving the fagbug for one year, Erin decided to give her car a makeover.
Davies was shocked and angered, but rather than simply have her car repainted, she chose to use the event to raise public awareness of hate crimes against the LGBT community. Davies mapped out a road trip visiting 58 cities across the United States, some with supportive LGBT communities and others in locations where anti-gay hate crimes had occurred in the past.
Davies brought along a small camera crew to document the reactions to her defaced automobile, and Fagbug is a documentary that charts the progress of Davies’ trip across the country, as well as recording how people responded, both positively and negatively, to the provocative statement presented by her car. Fagbug was an official selection at the 2009 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.
OR
On the 11th Annual National Day of Silence, Erin Davies was victim to a hate crime in Albany, New York. Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on her VW Beetle, Erin's car was vandalized, left with the words "fag" and "u r gay" placed on the driver's side window and hood of her car. Despite initial shock and embarrassment, Erin decided to embrace what happened by leaving the graffiti on her car.
She took her car, now known worldwide as the "fagbug," on a 58-day trip around the United States and Canada. Along the way, Erin discovered other, more serious hate crimes, had people attempt to remove the graffiti, and experimented with having a male drive her car. After driving the fagbug for one year, Erin decided to give her car a makeover.