Secondly, gay is an umbrella term for all non-heterosexual individuals. There is more going on than a gay movement, and this shirt irresponsibly throws it all into one category in the name of awareness. Through such an exclusive term, the LBT in LGBT are squeezed out (not that trans is a sexual orientation)
my solution: a shirt that says
I don't care what your sexuality is...
4 comments:
I agree. Perhaps the shirt is a signal to other "gay" people to let them know that the person wearing the shirts are gay?
No, it's actually sold on campus through USC allies
Maybe... but I don't think that is punchy enough.
I think their slogan does an adequate job of summarizing the spectrum of sexuality into one word that fits succinctly on a t-shirt for the sake of creating an walking silent protest against ignorance and phobia, perhaps directed at people who might better understand a range of sexualities under the term 'gay' than your alternative.
Yeah, I like your alternative slogan, but your logic behind not liking the "gay, fine by me shirts" I don't really agree with.
The shirt is worn by allies because gay is an issue. Whether you'd like for it to assimilate into main stream society or not, as of right now, its not apart of it, and if it isn't pinpointed, then history shows it will be ignored. A reason for that is because gay people historically have been forced by the constructs of society to keep their sexuality a secret. The only way to counteract that, is by being more "out" with their sexuality. If people are shocked by it, okay, but then maybe they will realize how many people are gay, that it is not so taboo, and that it is apart of alot of people in America. Not talking about it, not bringing it to the forefront isn't going to make gay more acceptable, its just going to drive the issue underground again.
As for the use of gay as the umbrella term, you could be making an assumption, they may just be talking about gay men. Maybe they have a whole line; "lesbian? fine by me", "transexual? fine by me" "...? fine by me". So then it gives specificity to the struggles of gay men, thats just an assumption though, you could very well be right about the umbrella term, but I know that when I see those shirts I generally think gay men.
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