Fagbug Nation

---

Well, I'm Jewish.

My ancestors are Jewish.

We would never drive a Kikebug.

So, I'm just wondering ...

It's a really offensive term.

I was wondering, what's

the argument with

fagbug?

[Voiceover] It started like

any other trip to the movies.

[Usher] Theater number seven

to your right, thank you.

[Voiceover] But people

at the Fagbug premiere

got to see a road

trip about tolerance

unfold before their eyes.

[Voiceover] I'm

a 65yearold fag

in a '99 Beetle.

[Voiceover] The

documentary chronicles

Erin Davies crosscountry

trek in her Volkswagen

that was vandalized

with the words "fag"

and "U R gay."

[Man] What happened to a car

and then was able to use

it as away to get people

to talk about what

happens to human beings.

I thought it was very effective.

[Voiceover] Davies

was admittedly nervous

about the movie

premiere here in Albany

because this is where

here lifechanging journey

started six years ago.

But, 48 states,

four broken windows,

and over 200 speaking

events later,

she says it's been a wild,

and wildly important ride.

[Erin] When my car

first got vandalized,

I decided to leave the

graffiti on the car

to show a visual example

of what homophobia looks like

to people who may have

never experienced it.

A year after I began driving

my car with the graffiti,

I gave my car a

colorful makeover.

I planned a 58day

trip around the US,

and filmed the

documentary, called Fagbug

about the adventure.

The film is now on Netflix,

and has quite a cult

following from people

all around the world.

Since then, I've become

a nationally touring

motivational speaker.

On a fulltime basis,

I present the Fagbug story

to high schools, middle schools,

colleges, and businesses.

Once I began traveling,

my car became known

as the fagbug.

I made sure to take a picture

of every "welcome to"

sign I came across.

It was always a goal of mine,

from the very beginning,

to get my car to all 50 states.

It took me three years

to reach 48 states.

I spent another

three stuck at 48.

Hawaii and Alaska

being the last two

I had yet to get to.

If you're at 48, you've gotta

do noncontinental states.

Hawaii's fabulous.

Why not?

And, Alaska ...

is Alaska.

I planned a fourweek tour

where I booked myself

26 days straight.

Along the way, I interviewed

over 1,000 people.

Not once did I have to ask

anyone to do an interview.

They all came to me.

That's the magic behind the car.

It allows people's

defenses to disappear,

and brings to the surface

what's always been there,

but otherwise would

not have been seen.

We run far away from here

("We Run" by Caleb)

We run far away from here

And we run far away from here

And we run far away from here

And we run far away from here

And we run far away from here

And we run far

away from here

[Sonya] I just want

people to understand that

the Fagbug, as a whole,

with Erin and the car included,

is a partnership.

The car is her business partner.

It takes at least,

at the very minimum,

50 percent of everything

that she makes.

[Erin] If you were

me, and you went through

48 states with a car, would

you wanna get to all 50?

Absolutely.

Absolutely, including

Hawaii and Alaska.

How would you do that?

I was planning on

covering the cost myself

with my tour that I was booking.

But, Sonya had an idea

that I should start

a Kickstarter campaign just

because it's so much money.

It costs about $2300

to ship the car

from California to

Hawaii, and back.

So, I'm on a three

and a half week trip.

I've taken my car to all states,

except Alaska and Hawaii.

I'm literally on my

way to Los Angeles.

I'm shipping my car, April 26th,

to Hawaii.

Today's Saturday, I

have an event to be at

in Northern Illinois,

about five hours from here.

Monday morning at nine,

my car is stuck in the middle of

a road, blocking traffic.

Getting it towed now.

[Man] This young lady's

vehicle will not go into gear.

We feel that it has

a clutch problem.

My car is getting

worked on right now.

It needs a new clutch.

They tried other things

but worstcase scenario

is what happened.

It's gonna cost about $1500.

So, here we go.

One, two, three,

four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine,

10, 11, 12, 13, 14 ...

$1500 ...

is going into fixing my clutch.

I did have an event

scheduled today

at Northern Illinois University.

Since they got me a rental car,

I was willing to drive there.

It's about five hours away.

I gave them the

option of me coming,

and getting there in time

for the screening tonight,

or rescheduling.

They chose to reschedule ...

because they'd rather

have the car there.

See, people like my car

more than they like me.

The car is really

kind of the center of

attraction, I think,

with your story

and your program.

We wanted to do

something like this,

where we could have

your car and you

out in the daytime to get

more interest in the evening.

Just didn't think it was

gonna work out very well

without the actual bug here.

These things will work in time

We both say willingly

But history repeats itself

Says something inside of me

I will not be pushed around

For mutual gain

We're framing the fabric

For intensity's sake

My favorite part

of driving the car

for the last six years is that

people have left

handwritten notes on my car.

This one is my

secondfavorite one.

I don't know who left this,

but can you read this one to me?

It says, "I sometimes

run past your car

"when I'm out running.

"I told myself the

next time I did,

"I would break up with

my perfect boyfriend

"and tell him the

truth, I'm gay.

"Here goes nothing.

"Thank you Fagbug."

Oh my, God, that's cool.

It's written on this little

kittycat PostIt.

My car has been egged.

My car has been keyed,

the whole driver's side.

Mud's been thrown at my car.

My car has been spit on.

One time, somebody put

a trashcan on my car,

upsidedown.

Another time, somebody put

both my windshield wipers

and stood 'em standing

straight up and down.

I was like, "If you're gonna

do something, like seriously,

"that's the best you

can come up with?"

My car has only been

rewritten on again, one time.

Somebody wrote, "Faggets

plus dikes need to die,"

on my driver's side window.

If you look closely, they

also misspelled faggots

and they misspelled dykes

so I try to keep in mind

the intelligence level

of who we're dealing with, here.

[Girl] I think ...

it's Ok to be gay.

You're just goin' to

hell, but it's Ok.

[Erin] Would you

drive this car around?

Hell no!

[Erin] Why not?

People gone get

the wrong idea.

(laughter)

[Erin] People will

think you're gay?

Yeah!

[Erin] So you wanna

stay as far away from it

as possible? [Harrison]

Yeah, I'm gonna have Freddy

comin' from across the road,

(exaggerated) "Hey!"

Get the f*** away from me.

That's someone who's not

comfortable with

their sexuality.

No, I just don't like

being around faggots.

I was just looking

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