Depfox YouTube Channel

During the Supreme Court hearings for Proposition 8 and the Defense against Marriage Act, many YouTube users made and posted videos on their views of whether or not same sex couples should be allowed to marry. The YouTube channel Depfox centers on a family that consists of a gay male couple and their two adoptive children. They post videos on the dynamics of their family and speak on a number of gay issues while also running a blog called Gay Family Values. All members of the family exhibit the qualities of citizen journalists because they cover the issues that affect them in an effective way that informs the public and encourages team work with professional journalists. 

In this clip, Daniel Martinez-Leffew, the teenage son of the family recites the open letter he wrote to Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court a few days before Roberts would hear arguments on the topic of same sex marriage. Daniel feels like Roberts and his family would be able to relate to his family. Both families have two adopted children. Daniel’s mission was to get Roberts to understand the solidarity of his unique family, so that Roberts would see that members of the LGBT community should be seen as equal to heterosexuals.

“My family and I have spent the last four years making YouTube videos to show people who don’t understand that our family is like any other. If Prop 8 is allowed to stand, imagine the pain that we would feel knowing that we are not considered equal to everyone else,” Daniel Martinez-Leffew wrote to Justice Roberts. 

The video received almost a quarter million views on YouTube and was shared through various social media outlets. Many YouTubers used the ability to comment or reply with a video of their own on the video for Chief Justice Roberts. YouTube also allowed users to share the video to other websites like Twitter and Facebook. The video’s presence was important when it came to the social media impact it had on gay marriage. Also, the video had such a huge impact that news organization MSNBC had Daniel on television for an interview and he also was invited to recite his speech live at San Francisco City Hall in California in front of a crowd of three thousand people. The Depfox YouTube channel opened the discussion on marriage equality to a wider public audience through their videos and personal involvement on the issue.

In general, YouTube is a free service and has become an outlet that many Americans from all backgrounds use to have their voices heard. Users often use the site as a place to express more personal views on political topics. It is a place that lends itself to beginning discussion and participation between men and women. Users have the option to like, dislike, or favorite videos. Also, there is the ability to directly communicate with the content producer and other viewers of the video by commenting on the video or recording a video response that can be critiqued as well. People can subscribe to videos of others who interest them as well. YouTube is a way for one or a few people to reach and impact a large group of people at once. The Depfox YouTube channel accurately displays the use of participatory journalism during the Supreme Court hearings from late March. 

For a better look at the Gay Family Values Youtube show look at: youtube.com/depfox