"Legalize Gay" in Japan!

＜English＞

Translated by faiyaque

After causing quite a stir in the United States last year, "Legalize Gay" tees - the American Apparel-made T-shirt with a queer-friendly message - are now on sale here in Japan.

The T-shirt broadcasts the statement "Legalize Gay - Repeal Prop 8 Now" in large print, delivering its message sharply with American Apparel's signature simplicity in design and vivid colors.

As we’ve covered in the pages of TW before, Prop 8 (Proposition 8) is a ballot initiative which, once passed, brought an end to legalized same-sex marriages in California last year. On their official website, American Apparel has voiced dismay over the passing of Prop 8 and states emphatically, "We're proud to stand against Prop 8 and what it represents."

The company goes on to say that they originally produced this tee for distribution at rallies and marches against Prop 8 last November. "Many of our employees and customers [identify] as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered...[and] scores of our employees were on the front lines of protests in Los Angeles." Impressed by the positive response they received, American Apparel explains that they then decided to print more T-shirts to sell to the public.

American Apparel states that they've donated "Legalize Gay" T-shirts to Harvey Milk High School (a high school opened in 2003 with the mission of providing a safe space for students to attend classes and study free from harassment) and plan to donate additional tees to organizations in San Francisco that support same-sex marriage.

On the website, the company also refers to the controversy that erupted due to their sale of Butt magazine in their stores. When conservative groups applied pressure on the chain to prohibit what they called "pornography," American Apparel refused to stop stocking the magazine and was commended for its "willing[ness] to embrace...gay sexual expression."

American Apparel does not yet have much of a presence in Japan, but this gay-friendly corporation can be found advertising in the pages of Tokyo Wrestling's own favorite Dutch lesbian art magazine Girls Like Us.

Now you too can grab this T-shirt here in Japan and show your support for dykes in the United States!

★For American Apparel's "Legalize Gay", see www.americanapparel.net/legalizegay

★To return to Tokyo Wrestling's homepage, follow the link here.