Why Is This Image for Same-Sex Marriage Going Viral?

If the window for embracing same-sex marriage is closing, so is the one for marriage-equality avatars on Facebook.

To mark the Supreme Court's oral arguments Tuesday on marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign is promoting a special version of its logo. Instead of the usual yellow equal sign on a blue background, the organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights has rolled out a red-and-pink graphic. More than 28,000 32,000 people have "liked" the new image on Facebook since it went up Monday, and nearly 100,000 119,000 have shared it. Still others have taken HRC's suggestion to make the logo their new profile picture, causing some people's newsfeeds to be filled up like this:

Early reports suggest the Supreme Court may decide not to rule on Proposition 8--the California ballot initiative that bans gay marriage--at all. If the justices take a pass, then that would leave in place an existing decision by lower courts in favor of marriage equality, according to the legal experts at SCOTUSblog.

Update: The image is now a full-fledged meme.