Sustainable Fashion to Support LGBTQ+ Rights During Pride Month & Beyond

Why only LOOK great, when you can also BE great?!

Luckily, you can do both at the same time easily.

In this blog, we’re sharing our favourite products for Pride Month and beyond.

The best thing? You’re not only visibly supporting LGBTQ+ rights, but the items are also made in a fair and sustainable way.

Let’s dive in!

How did Pride Month begin?

Pride Month originates from the Stonewall Uprising on June 28th, 1969. On that day, the police tried to conduct a routine raid in the NYC café Stonewall Inn. The aim? To arrest anyone to be found cross-dressing. Normally, this would be a routine exercise, but on the 28th of June the crowd stood up and violent clashes followed. It’s said that this was a turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

One year later, thousands of people gathered to join the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March; said to be the first Pride March ever.

Why does Pride Month exist?

There are a lot of dimensions around this month, but the biggest ones are visibility, awareness and celebration of people’s identities. It’s the opportunity to increase awareness towards issues that are usually not discussed and highlights the struggles and achievements of the community while celebrating everyone’s identities openly and proudly.

The main goal is to foster a sense of community and belonging, allowing people to express themselves without any fear while emphasizing the issues the community faces around the world.

With 64 countries still criminalizing homosexuality, with 12 of them even imposing death penalties LGBTQIA+ rights are not something to take for granted. 

What does Pride Month mean in the Fashion Industry?

Many brands join Pride Month’s celebration of diversity and inclusion. They launch special collections, marketing campaigns and collaborations with LGBTQ+ designers and influencers.

Often this results in vibrant, rainbow-themed clothing lines and accessories that resonate with the LGBTQ+ communities and its allies.

Seems amazing right? Well, not so, unfortunately. For many fashion brands, their actions during Pride Month are merely performative.

While projecting an image of inclusivity and diversity through their collections, they often forget to empower the people creating the clothes.

What about the garment workers who still do not receive a wage that’s enough to live on? It’s 2024 and many fashion brands still get away with printing “Activists”/”Pride”/”a quote related to inclusivity or equality” on a t-shirt made under unfair working conditions.

What fashion brand to support during Pride Month?

Luckily, there are many brands who are not just creating performative collections during Pride Month. A great example is Pitod.

Pitod creates timeless, comfortable and genderless clothing and their unwavering commitment to inclusivity goes beyond Pride Month.

Although, their celebration of diversity and promotion of self-expression align perfectly with the values of Pride Month.

Pitod is a certified Living Wage Employer and a member of 1% for the Planet. They use organic and recycled materials to create items to celebrate “The Freedom of Being You”.

Wonder what that looks like?

Our Favourite Sustainable Fashion Items to Support LGBTQI+ Rights during Pride Month and Beyond:

1. Rainbow Tote Bag made from Organic cotton
   
   
   
2. Born My Way Unisex T-shirt from organic cotton
   
3. Rainbow T-Shirt Unisex made in Bangladesh under fair working conditions
   
   
   
4. Genderless Couple T-shirt
   
   
   
5. Rainbow Baseball Cap
   
   
   
6. Rainbow P T-shirt to represent Pitod
   

Happy Pride Month!