My Missing Donald Trump Cartoon
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JP Morgan Chase Self Destructs
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My Gay Marriage Cartoons
President Obama’s decision to come out this week in support of Gay Marriage caps a decade-long shift in the acceptance of same-sex couples in this country. Obviously, there are many religious groups and individuals that will never support the idea of two men shacking up, but the polling data is pretty interesting.
[ View our complete collection of Obama Gay Marriage cartoons ]
When the Defense of Marriage Act was signed in 1996, only 25 percent of the American public supported same-sex marriage. Since then, support has increased gradually until an August 2010 CNN poll showed majority support for same-sex marriage, where it has remained ever since.
I decided to look back into my archives. To my surprise, I’ve drawn a great number of cartoons dealing with the idea of gay marriage.
Here’s the cartoon I drew after gay marriage was legalized in California…
Here’s a cartoon I drew after the military repealed its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy…
This is a cartoon I drew after two sex scandals rocked the GOP – one involving a congressman hiring a prostitute, and the other involving gay sex and a bathroom stall. You might guess how the reactions differed…
While society’s view of same-sex marriage has changed over the years, the GOP’s wardrobe has remained stuck in time…
Here’s a cartoon I drew back in 2004 when gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts…
And here’s how I imagined baptist preachers might respond to the growing trend of same-sex marriages…
And because no discussion of gay marriage is complete without Bert and Ernie…
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Best Political Cartoons of the Week
Every Friday, we collect the best political cartoons of the week and stuff them into one big, glorious slideshow.
So just relax and catch up on a week’s worth of news with our Best Cartoons of the Week slideshow.
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Fruity Loomy Terrorists
President Obama’s decision to complete his “evolution” on the issue of same-sex marriage has created a media feeding frenzy, and momentarily shifted the debate from the economy and jobs.
[ View all our cartooons about Obama and Same-Sex Marriage ]
The timing for Obama is odd, who was obviously forced to announce his position after Vice President Joe Biden openly supported same-sex marriage on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. I bet gay voters in North Carolina would have appreciated Obama’s support sooner, rather than wait until the day after the state voted to ban all same-sex marriages and civil unions.
This will obviously be a huge issue in this campaign, so you can expect a lot of cartoons on the subject. Here are some initial reactions about Obama’s metamorphosis, including my own…
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Both the Same Candidate
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Obama Evolves on Gay Marriage
There is disturbing news to report from Iran, where cartoonist Mahmoud Shokraiyeh has been sentenced to 25 lashings for drawing a member of parliament wearing a football jersey. That’s right – he’s going to be whipped for drawing a cartoon.
While it’s nothing new for repressive governments to crack down on press freedoms and punish cartoonists, in Iran this incident seems like an escalation not only because of the harsh punishment, but because Shokraiyeh’s cartoon didn’t have anything to do with religious issues.
Even more unsettling is that under Chapter 27 of the “Islamic Penal Code of Iran,” anyone who “wrongfully” libels through print media can be subjected to “74 lashes” and imprisonment from one month to a year.
For more insight, I turned to my good friend Nik Kowsar, an Iranian cartoonist now living in Washington, D.C. who was imprisoned for depicting Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi as a crocodile:
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When writing about cartooning in Iran, I always think back to the cartoon I drew that literally changed my life. Though I had not directly portrayed an Ayatollah, by drawing a crying crocodile as the main enemy of the press and using a name that rhymed with the name of that powerful cleric, it was obvious I was messing with the most powerful class in Iran.
Cartoonists had been told not to draw Ayatollahs. Even though the constitution is silent about poking fun at clerics, judges have the power to interpret the law as they wish. By making fun of the Islamic dress code, in their point of view, you are insulting the religion, and insulting the religion is a crime based on the Islamic Penal Code. Many have lost their lives over the years by simply making fun of some symbols or making jokes about the prophet and the Imams.
In 2009, I asked (via email) Grand Ayatollah Montazeri (who died months later) if based on his interpretation of Islam, was it OK to draw Grand Ayatollahs in cartoons or not. He said that as long as you are not insulting a person, there are no objections to drawing that individual. This was sort of a “Fatwa” (a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law), though I had only asked for his opinion.
Still, no one inside Iran dares draw an Ayatollah, and until a few days ago, it was totally OK to draw cartoons of non-cleric officials. Now, Iranian cartoonist Mahmoud Shokrayeh has been sentenced to 25 lashes because he drew a caricature of Ahmad Lotfi Ashtiani, a member of the Iranian parliament, wearing a soccer jersey.
One thing interesting about Shokrayeh’s cartoon is the dark skinned mark on Lotfi Ashtiani’s forehead. In Islamic countries, this is the sign of “praying too much”. Rubbing the forehead on the ground during prayer for years and years does this. You can see it on many Islamist leaders’ faces.
Last week, while attending UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day’s conference in Tunis, I noticed the Tunisian prime minister had been praying too too much. A Tunisian cartoonist present at the conference, drawing live on a pad, intentionally drew the dark mark on the prime minister’s forehead. Including this interesting religious symbol in his cartoon might have been seen by the Iranian court as insulting.
Now, Iranian cartoonists who are living outside of Iran, in solidarity with their colleague, are drawing caricatures of the insulted MP Lotfi Ashtian. Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani, who was imprisoned for his cartoons in 2006, has invited other cartoonists to draw in support of Mahmoud Shokrayeh.
In one of the cartoons, the cartoonist suggests that Mahmoud Shokrayeh’s caricature looks much better than the MP, and the MP should be lashed because of making fun of the cartoon.
It is important to note that if the ruling takes place and the judgement is not set aside, any cartoonist in Iran will have to fear at least 25 lashes on his back if he happens to insult public official.
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I had a couple of questions for Nik. Why did Shokraiyeh draw the MP in a soccer jersey? The MP was interested in bringing soccer clubs to the city of Arak. Nik said, “Imagine if LA Lakers move from LA to SF and turn into SF Lakers.”
I asked Nik how the lashings work and if Shokraiyeh was in prison pending his punishment. Nik responded to say that Shokraiyeh was not imprisoned and the lashings are done by appointment; Shokraiyeh will be called and given a time to come in to get his lashings, then he can leave (kind of like a trip to the dentist for a root canal, I guess).
Here are some of the cartoons drawn by Iranian cartoonists in solidarity with Mahmoud Shokrayeh over the lashing decision:
On this day back in 1754, Benjamin Franklin’s now-famous “Join or Die” woodcut cartoon was first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper. The cartoon, which showed a snaked severed into eight segments each representing a British American colony or region, was meant to inspire unity among the colonies before the French and Indian War. Later, it became an important symbol of colonial freedom during the Revolutionary War.
Interestingly, Franklin chose to represent all of New England as one segment, as opposed to the four colonies it was at the time. He also omitted Delaware and Georgia completely. Even back in the 18th century, space was tight for cartoons.
It’s also a learning lesson for editors about the power of cartoons. Along with the cartoon, Franklin wrote an editorial about the “disunited state” of the colonies to drive home the importance of colonial unity. Over 250 years later, Franklin’s column is long forgotten, but his cartoon is still as popular as ever.
Here’s how it appeared back in 1754:
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North Carolina’s Gay Marriage Ban
Today voters in North Carolina’s primary get to decide whether to approve a state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.
John Cole, the teriffic staff cartoonist for the Scranton Times-Tribune, spent years drawing cartoons about North Carolina’s wacky political scene for the Durham Herald-Sun. Even though he moved to Pennsylvania, he still draws a cartoon a week for North Carolina Policy Watch. He’s drawn several cartoons about Amendment One, so I asked him to weigh in with this thoughts:
North Carolina always had this feel about it that’s different from a lot of other Southern states. It combined forward-thinking progressivism (exemplified by guys like Jim Hunt, Terry Sanford and Bill Friday), a booming modern high-tech-based knowledge economy and the more traditional social conservatism of pols like Jesse Helms. These things more or less held each other in balance for years. Amendment One upsets that balance and represents a huge step backward for a state that I’ve generally regarded as more open toward and tolerant of differing views and lifestyles.
Here are John’s cartoons about the potential Gay Marriage ban in North Carolina. What do you think – right move or drastic overstep? Comment below or give us your thoughts on our Facebook page.
