Fagbug

Fagbug is a Volkswagen New Beetle owned by Erin Davies of Syracuse, New York, who, in response to graffiti on her car, embarked on a cross-American road trip to raise awareness of LGBT rights.^[1]^[2]^[3]

History

On April 18, 2007, Davies, an art education graduate student at Sage College of Albany, found the words "fag" and "U R gay" [sic] spray-painted on her car.^[4] In response, she dropped out of college and started on a 55,000-mile (89,000 km) trip through 41 U.S. states, during which she interviewed 536 people and spoke out against hate crimes.^[5]^[6]^[7] Davies received a sponsorship from Volkswagen Group of America and HD Radio to use for gas money, car expenses, and the film.^[8]

^ Berk, Brett (February 28, 2010). "The Heartwarming Story of Fagbug". VF Daily. Stick Shift, The Gay Car Blog. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
^ Raymundo, Oscar (December 19, 2007). "Driven to Spread Awareness". Current Project for Student Journalism. (Newsweek). Archived from the original on July 10, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
^ Stewart, Alison (January 16, 2008). "The Adventures of a Car Named 'Fagbug'". Bryant Park Project. (National Public Radio). Retrieved August 10, 2009.
^ Parry, Marc (May 1, 2007). "An act of hatred backfires". Times Union. (timesunion.com). Retrieved August 10, 2009.^{[dead link]}
^ Kroll, Morgan (June 19, 2007). "Meet the bloggers: Erin Davies". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
^ Smith, K.M. (September 1, 2007). "Activist Debuts the FagBug" (PDF). Curve. (fagbug.com). Retrieved February 28, 2010.
^ Jubie, Ken (April 22, 2008). ""Fagbug" turns hate into inspiration". Capital News 9. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
^ Kusner, Daniel A. "Erin Davies' Pride Ride". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 19 February 2013.