All about the White Knot for Marriage Equality

Frank Voci could not have asked for a better endorsement for his White Knot project than when Dustin Lance Black wore one on his tuxedo the night of last month’s Academy Awards.

It also helped that not only was Lance photographed as a nominee on the red carpet, but he went on to win the Oscar for best original screenplay for Milk and gave one of the evening’s most stirring speeches.

“That was sort of the kick that we needed to bring it to a more national stage,” Voci told me over the weekend. “We started it about a week after the election as a response to needing a symbol that people could have no matter where they are. There were all the rallies with signs of protest and a lot of angry people. We wanted to come up with something that people could have in their workplace, school or place of worship to show that they support marriage equality.”

I love Voci’s tagline on the WhiteKnot.org site: “Everyone should have the right to tie the knot.”

The campaign is catching on.

“They’re all over the country. We have people in up to 48 states and 14 countries wearing them,” he said. “It’s slowly gained a grassroots following over time then we took advantage of the awards season where we had people wearing them at the Grammys, the Independent Spirit Awards and then the Oscars. Every person we’ve approached has been fully supportive. We had Lance Black, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, Lucy Lui, Dave Stewart, Anne Hathaway, Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper.”

But the idea is not just to wear the knot on special occasions but to wear it every day to show support and to create conversation and to use it to tell somebody that equal rights are important to everyone.

Voci, who works as a consultant for digital media start-ups, said the knots are not sold individually. Instead they are sold in kits so people can make their own. From each kit, you can make about 300 knots.

“The whole idea is to get people involved in the movement,” he said.

What’s really refreshing is that Voci is still a relatively new political activist.

“I just felt compelled,” he said. “It sort of started last year with Obama. Me and a few friends did phone banking and that was really my first put yourself on the line to get something done experience. I figured if I could call people about Obama, I could do this.”