American Apparel Pushes Back Against Anti-LGBT Vandalism

by Michael Jones · 2009-07-22 09:03:00 UTC
Topics:

Legalize Gay T-shirt

What's a company to do when a radical anti-LGBT person not only verbally attacks them for their support of LGBT rights, but does physical damage to their property?

In the case of American Apparel, the answer is fight the hell back.

That's what's happening with a Washington, D.C.-area American Apparel store, after a group of vandals broke the windows of a store that had a bunch of "Legalize Gay" t-shirts on display.  The shirts, which are a sign of American Apparel's support for marriage equality, have been a popular item, especially in the wake of Proposition 8 and the decisions of four states in 2009 to recognize same-sex marriage.

As a response to the violence, some stores would consider removing the shirts or hiding them, or placing them on the racks that are just past the fitting rooms, down a long hall, and next to the bathrooms.  Not American Apparel.  Here's their company statement responding to the attackers, essentially saying that nobody is going to intimidate the company into silencing their support for equal rights:

Yesterday an American Apparel store in Silver Spring, Maryland had a window broken by someone upset over the company's support for gay marriage. Our Georgetown location and others in the areas have received similar threats. We just wanted to use this forum here to announce that not only are they not going to prevent us from speaking out on an issue that is important to this company and our employees but we'll continue to run Legalize Gay advertisements in papers across DC-Metro area. We'll also send Legalize Gay t-shirts to any group in Washington DC that is fighting for gay rights and will help support any protest or rally for the cause.

Vandalizing a store for selling Legalize Gay shirts is a low blow, even by the standards set by most anti-LGBT activists.  But it's great to see a company not only refuse to back down, but step up their support for marriage equality in the wake of such violent actions.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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