Gay? Fine by me. Gay Marriage, too.
Published August 18, 2009 @ 03:55AM PT
This has been the summer of T-shirts. First there was the dust-up over the Legalize Gay T-shirts sold at American Apparel, with a store in Silver Spring, Maryland being attacked by an anti-LGBT vandal because of the company's support for LGBT rights. American Apparel reaffirmed their commitment to equality, and vowed to continue selling the shirts.
Then MIss Do-Gooder entered the fray with a T-shirt meant to help stamp out homophobia, with proceeds from each shirt being given back to the LGBT population in the form of a donation to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Now it's Atticus Circle's turn, as they launch a campaign over their new shirts, "Gay? Fine by me." and "Gay Marriage? Fine by Me." This T-shirt comes with a twist that's rooted in a little bit of fashion, and a little bit of community organizing. It's meant to help pull support from not only LGBT peeps, but also straight allies, with groups urging concerted campaigns to wear the T-shirts to display support for LGBT rights.
Atticus Circle's founder, Anne Wynne, said that the shirts are a simple and effective way to push for LGBT rights like a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" or marriage equality. "We see this as a crucial time for our political leaders to seize the day and take action," Wynne said. "To show that this is a priority, we need to make ourselves more visible and raise our voices. We hope our shirt campaign, involving college students, faculty and staff across the nation, will help LGBT supporters make our leaders aware of the need to stand up for equality now."
The shirts already have a track record of helping to change hearts, minds, and perceptions. They originally started in 2003 by a Duke University student, in response to the fact that Duke was named one of the least LGBT-friendly schools in the entire country. Commence T-shirt campaign, and not only has Duke improved its image, but a viral T-shirt campaign got birthed.
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Comments (2)
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Author
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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.
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I've always loved the "gay? fine by me" t-shirt campaign. We host have it every year at Illinois State University. The PRIDE group there is awesome! Go Atticus Circle's for jumping in! I need to get me one of those "Gay Marriage? Fine by me" shirts now!
Posted by Kate F on 08/18/2009 @ 06:17AM PT
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It's good that Atticus Circle is selling T-Shirts supporting LGBT equality. It's also good that American Apparel and the Miss Gooder T-Shirts T-Shirts also support the necessary equality which the LGBT community deserves. Congress and the President must repeal the intolerant 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', and is why Anne Wynne is a good person to sell those T-Shirts of equality. With the T-Shirts heavily targeted to university students, those students are part of the activism.
Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/18/2009 @ 05:58PM PT
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