People are reminiscing about one of the worst Pride t-shirts ever created

It’s almost Pride season, which means corporations are about to start rolling out their latest rainbow merch.

On Wednesday, Gay Twitter started talking about an old Pride t-shirt from American Apparel that, despite being well-intentioned, checked all of the wrong boxes.

It certainly has… a lot of words?

Like many pieces of Pride merchandise sold during Donald Trump‘s presidency, the t-shirt in question carries strong political undertones.

Back in 2017, the Trump administration prohibited the CDC from using seven words or phrases in official documents, all of which are featured on American Apparel’s plain white tee: diversity, transgender, evidence-based, science-based, fetus, entitlement, vulnerable.

It’s basically the Pride t-shirt version of those “In This House We Believe…” yard signs.

In all seriousness, Pride has always been political, and we love to see brands make strong statements in support of the LGBTQ+ community. But this shirt is just… not it.

There’s no context to any of the words! Try strolling into a Pride party this year with “fetus” written on your shirt without explanation.

That’s definitely not a slay.

This is the shirt equivalent of not knowing if someone’s trying to offend you or complement you.— Squish (@squish_evani) May 10, 2023

I’d rather be called slurs.— Zucc (@Zucchary) May 10, 2023

tag yourself, I’m fetus and vulnerable— Dori_Casper (@CasDee_Ghosty) May 10, 2023

this shirt looks an adult swim pride month commercial— Luigi the ‘Phobe Hunter (@LuigiFindPhobes) May 10, 2023

Pride became a commercialized event years ago, resulting in criticism about some brands using the celebration to promote slacktivism and merchandise sales. While slogans are nice, they don’t really help vulnerable LGBTQ+ people.

Other brands, however, have mastered the art of Pride merch. Like Target, whose Pride offerings this season are so bad they’re… good. Great, even! The ironic (and iconic) collection includes a drag bird, dog bone, and shirts that say “live, laugh, lesbian.”

As we’ve seen, there’s still risk involved for brands that promote inclusive LGBTQ+ messaging. Most recently, the MAGA crowd went berserk after Bud Light hired trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney to post a couple of Instagram ads.

The blowback was so relentless and Anheuser-Busch wound up capitulating, placing the two execs responsible for the campaign on leave.

Even the U.S. military isn’t exempt from backlash for partnering with out LGBTQ+ ambassadors. Just last week, the Navy SEAL who helped kill bin Laden threw a hissy fit over the U.S. Navy enlisting a drag queen to help boost sign-ups.

This Pride season, we encourage corporations to stand up for LGBTQ+ people, and keep supporting us year round. It’s also fine to try and sell a little merch. We don’t mind! Just make sure it isn’t embarrassing.

Scroll down for more reaction to American Apparel’s epic Pride miss…

Reminds me of IKEA’s Pride Collection couch inspired by bisexuals pic.twitter.com/hRtryvdXE7— Ｊａｓｋａ (@pisamiajaska) May 10, 2023

One ticket to the Barbie movie please pic.twitter.com/vnR8hfBrBN— אוריה (@kruvsagol) May 10, 2023

It’s like if AI tried to design a pride shirt— JollyGreenBuddha (@JollyGBuddha) May 10, 2023

This looks like it’s from Cards Against Humanity.— Random Mobile Phone Dump (@phone_dump) May 10, 2023

this is “Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.” for the “In This House We Believe” crowd— jess (@beebosfemme) May 10, 2023