LGBTQ Rights and Pride: What the Fight Is Now, and What People Wear

Pride began as a protest, and in the 2020s it is one again. The LGBTQ rights movement won marriage in 2015 and has spent the years since defending trans people, queer kids, school libraries and its own history from a wave of new laws. This page explains where Pride came from, what the flags mean, what the fights are now, and what people wear to them.

The starting point is the Stonewall uprising, which began on June 28, 1969, when patrons of a New York bar fought back against a police raid. The first Pride march was held one year later to the day, as the Library of Congress records. That is why Pride is in June. Today the ACLU tracks hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures every year, most of them aimed at transgender people.

The full set of Care & Resist designs is in the LGBTQ and pride shirts collection. Below, six threads that run through it.

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1. Pride is a protest

The parade with corporate floats came later. The original was a march by people who could be fired, evicted or arrested for who they were. When rights are being rolled back, the older slogans stop being nostalgia: "Pride is a Protest." "We're Here, We're Queer." "We Are Not Going Back in the Closet." See also Pride Month shirts and protest shirts.

2. My name is not a debate

Most of what trans people are asking for is ordinary: to be called by their name, to carry an ID that matches who they are, to see a doctor without a legislator in the room, and to be treated as adults who can make their own decisions. "My Pronouns Are Not a Debate." "My ID Should Say Who I Am." "Protect Trans Healthcare." "Trans Adults Are Adults."

3. Let queer kids live

The sharpest fights are over young people: whether a trans girl can play on a team with her friends, whether a school can have a GSA, whether a teacher must report a student to their parents. The shirts in this thread are for the parents, coaches and teachers who show up to the school board meeting. "Let Trans Kids Play." "Every School Needs a GSA." "Teachers Are Not Informants." "Trans Kids Deserve Birthdays."

4. You cannot legislate us away

Bathroom bills, sports bans, health care bans, book removals, rules against saying the word gay in a classroom: the list grows every session, and so does the answer. "Four Hundred Bills and We Are Still Here." "We Are Not Your Wedge Issue." "We Existed Before Your Ruling." "Say Gay."

5. Joy is resistance

Being visibly happy is its own argument. "Trans Joy is Resistance." "Gender Euphoria." "Love Louder." "More Pride, Less Prejudice," one of the most worn designs in the shop.

6. They served, too

Transgender Americans have served in every branch of the military, and the policy on whether they may do so openly has been reversed several times in a decade. "Trans Soldiers Served This Country." "Stop Purging Trans Troops." "Still Serving, Still Trans." See also gifts for a veteran.

Who wears these

Queer and trans people, their parents, their teachers, their teammates and their congregations. They are worn in June and, more to the point, in the other eleven months: to the statehouse hearing, the school board meeting, the clinic defense and the family reunion. Groups order them for Pride contingents, GSAs and employee resource groups: group orders of existing designs go on one custom listing; see group and bulk orders.

Every Care & Resist design is original, written and lettered by a person in our own rainbow style, and printed to order in the USA. Unisex, relaxed cut, true to size. Many designs also come as a hoodie and a crewneck sweatshirt.

Questions people ask

What does LGBTQ stand for?
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning. Longer versions add I for intersex, A for asexual, and a plus sign for identities the letters do not cover.

Why is Pride Month in June?
Because the Stonewall uprising began on June 28, 1969, in New York City, and the first Pride marches were held on its first anniversary. June has been the month for marches ever since.

What is the Progress Pride flag?
It is the rainbow flag with a chevron added at the left: light blue, pink and white for transgender people, and black and brown for LGBTQ people of color and those lost to AIDS. Daniel Quasar designed it in 2018, and the arrow shape points forward to show progress still to be made.

What do the colors of the rainbow flag mean?
Gilbert Baker, who made the first rainbow flag in 1978, gave each stripe a meaning. In the six-stripe version used today, red is life, orange is healing, yellow is sunlight, green is nature, blue is harmony and violet is spirit.

How can I be a good LGBTQ ally?
Use the names and pronouns people ask you to use, speak up when someone is not in the room to defend themselves, show up to the school board or statehouse when a bill is heard, and vote. Wearing the shirt tells people around you that you are safe to talk to.

Can allies wear pride shirts?
Yes. "Love is Love," "Protect Trans Joy," "Let Trans Kids Play" and "More Pride, Less Prejudice" are for anyone. First-person designs like "Gay and Not Going Anywhere" are for the people they describe.

Can I get matching shirts for my group?
Yes. Pick the design, collect sizes and colors, and we put the whole group on one custom listing that ships together; see group and bulk orders.

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