A pro-transgender T-shirt in a world of banal slogans
We are currently experiencing a worrying regression in the rights, freedoms, and security of trans people and the LGBTIQ+ community, with the promotion of a binary and traditional view of gender. The United States only recognizes the biological sex assigned at birth and has banned trans women from participating in women's sports or enlisting in the military. Since November 2024, Vladimir Putin has banned the adoption of Russian children in countries where gender transition is permitted, arguing that it is "to protect children who cannot protect themselves," assuming that the LGBTIQ+ community is a threat to childhood. The final straw—and the least expected—has been delivered by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which has ruled that the legal term women refers only to people with female biological sex, excluding trans women.
In countries like the United States, small gestures become significant, and the latest came from a simple white T-shirt with a clear message: "Protect from jets". This slogan, originating from the community ballroom from the 1980s, calls for the protection of trans people by recognizing their extreme vulnerability and discrimination. This gesture by Ives has gone viral and many celebrities Others have also been added, such as actor Pedro Pascal and designer Haider Ackerman, accompanied by actress Tilda Swinton. Singer Troye Sivan, who also wore the T-shirt at his Coachella performance, sold 200 in 24 hours. All proceeds from the sales will go to the non-profit organization Trans Lifeline, which offers support to trans people, especially to curb their high risk.
The T-shirt is one of the great fashion inventions of the 20th century, an essential element of our clothing without limitations of gender, age, ideology or origin. A universal piece as a blank canvas for any claim that, due to its speed of production and low cost, is a political weapon within everyone's reach. In 1984, British designer Katharine Hamnett revolutionized the idea of a graphic T-shirt with a political message when she wore one while meeting with Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War that read "98% of the people don't want Pershing." Designer Prabal Gurung printed T-shirts with various messages, such as "Resist with love", "The future is female" and "We will not be silenced," as a reaction against Donald Trump's first presidential term. Fashion designer Willy Chavarria, an American with immigrant parents, ended his show last January wearing a T-shirt with the phrase "How we love is who we are", against Trump's immigration policy. Maria Grazia Chiuri, upon becoming the first female creative director of Dior (a house traditionally far removed from feminist postulates) included a white T-shirt in the show with the phrase"We should all be feminists", paraphrasing the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Right now we can buy in stores like H&M or Inditex t-shirts on which we can read phrases like "The Tomato. Rome, Italy", "Honolulu Weekend 1999", "The sun is brighter in Waikiki" and "No hate just cake". Absurd messages that we don't even read when we buy them and that are a clear reflection of the emptiness, superficiality, and lack of individualistic commitment of our society. But, in the current times (and those to come), we can no longer afford the luxury of emptiness and we must be prepared to actively take a stand, defending some and defending others dangerously.