Norman the dog
Colorado Springs, USA, has recently been invaded by the image of Norman, a sweet and intelligent little dog. He can be seen on the sides of buses, in car windows, and especially on television during commercials. But why is Norman so famous? Because Norman doesn't bark like other dogs, he moos just like a cow.. For this reason he is abandoned by man and mistreated by other dogs: he is different and the world does not accept him, until he meets a sweet old lady who is willing to give him the love he needs despite his difference.
This whole story was set up by the committee Born Different who is fighting for same-sex marriage in Colorado. The impact has been nothing short of devastating, and in the Central Time state and neighboring states, it's the talk of the town.
But why is this happening in Colorado Springs? It seems the fundamental reason is to see if ordinary people can grasp a very simple concept: you don't decide to be gay, you're born that way.
And why does this happen to Colorado Springs, right in the middle of a conservative state and right in the city that Harper's Weekly (one of the most important and authoritative weeklies in the world published since 1850) has defined as the city with the largest number of Christian fundamentalists in American history?
Probably precisely to test a commercial like this in the heart of American homophobia and if it succeeds there it means it will be successful in other parts of America too.
So much so that the organization Focus on the Family, which is based in that very city, immediately created Sherman, a dachshund who barks. “Why does he bark?” says the advertisement. “Because that's what dogs do. If dogs were born to bark, why do they try to convince us otherwise?”
Some violent retaliation has begun to emerge: according to the Colorado Springs Independent, the window of Manda Souleret's car, which displayed Norman's photo, was shattered. Manda is a 16-year-old girl, the daughter of a lesbian couple from that city. Cyndi Souleret, the girl's mother, stated that local police did little to find the perpetrators of an obvious hate crime.
