A billboard in Alabama is making the rounds on r/pics, featuring a promotional ad for Fortify Alabama’s anti-human trafficking campaign. The ad displayed a picture of a faceless, obese male in a collared shirt, with text claiming he “wants to rent” a parent’s daughter. This shock-inducing statement sparked an in-depth conversation in the post’s comments, where hundreds shared their thoughts about the controversial billboard.
Reddit user Fuzzy-Clothes-7145, the one who shared the ad about Fortify Alabama, didn’t add any additional context to the post, but did post another photo of a stop sign with the label “Building Prisons.” “The funny thing about this is that the local county jail is like a 5 minutes drive away from where this stop sign is,” OP wrote, though, they didn’t add any indication about whether it was close to the billboard.
The first thing some Redditors pointed out was the choice of the man’s physique on Fortify Alabama’s anti-human trafficking billboard. There were commenters who pointed out how it painted a poor picture of the concept of a predator, as anyone, even a “nice buff good looking guy” could be a culprit.
Redditors Believed the Conversation Should Be About Queer Victims, Not an Obese White Male
One particular Redditor claiming to be a trafficking survivor made an argument of how they couldn’t care less about the “headless fatties trope” for an anti trafficking ad. Instead, they turned the conversation about children in the LGBTQ+ space, saying how the most effective anti-child sex trafficking campaigns would be funding foster care and convincing religious conservatives not to disown queer children. “Just put up a billboard telling them to love their gay daughter if they don’t want her solicited by this headless fat man,” they argued.
“I had more sexual abuse from my religious family than I did as a homeless queer youth,” remarked another user, accusing religious conservatives of being a bigger issue in their situation. “The actual horrible fact is it’s far more common for kids to get trafficked by their parents than by a stranger,” agreed a third.
One person believed that Southern conservatives in the States would stop thinking trafficking is a problem if the parents were convinced that “most trafficking victims are just disowned queer kids.” A Reddit user wrote in response, blaming the “Trump admin refusing to act on the Epstein files” as a reason such a way of thinking would exist.
Political debate aside, Fortify Alabama is evidently attempting to do a good thing, but the internet, specifically Reddit, believes it could do better. As the commenters pointed out, the fatphobic display of a predator is not an ideal ad for anti-human trafficking in Alabama when the victims, who are mostly allegedly queer children, should also be a focus.
