GAP = Gay And Proud? I don't thk so, help me! | NeoGAF

Contents:

• GAP - GAY AND PROUD? RETAILER SLAMMED BY PARENTG GROUP FOR PRO-HOMOSEXUAL ADVERTISG MPAIGN
• A MAR GAP SIGNIFI “GAY E ORGULHOSO”?
• GAY AND PROUD
• GAP = GAY AND PROUD? I DON'T THK SO, HELP ME!
• ‘GAY AND PROUD’ HISTORIL FILM PROVIS LOOK BACK AT EARLY PRI MARCH
• GAY ASIAN PROUD (GAP): QUTNG STEREOTYP & ASSUMPTNS
• GAP: GAY ASIAN PROUD
• GAP GAY AND PROUD QUOT & SAYGS

GAP - GAY AND PROUD? RETAILER SLAMMED BY PARENTG GROUP FOR PRO-HOMOSEXUAL ADVERTISG MPAIGN

The clothg store cha The Gap took s name om an acronym for 'Gay and Proud.

A MAR GAP SIGNIFI “GAY E ORGULHOSO”?

Ak to the Troop Sport ("To Rule Over Opprsed People") and Adidas ("All Day I Dream About Sex") nards, the mor about The Gap asserts that drew s name om an ializatn of the phrase "Gay And Proud":. Yterday, I heard this one: The GAP was started by a gay man and the name means Gay And Proud.

Although The Gap did beg San Francis, a cy home to a large homosexual populatn and strongly associated wh gay pri, s name has nothg to do wh eher of those cint facts. "Gay and proud" beme a tchphrase wh the gay muny bee proclaimed a posively-voiced manner that s members took pri who they were rather than feelg ashamed of their liftyle. It wasn't that long ago that ncealg all evince of a same-sex preference was the orr of the day, and the phrase "Gay and proud" th reprented a major shift how a muny viewed both self and the value of s dividual members society.

GAY AND PROUD

(It's one thg to wave a "Gay and Proud" sign if you know you're holdg , but que another to fd one has been pned to your back whout your knowledge.

Even the most gay-sympathetic person might take umbrage at that.

That’s bee “Gap” was synonymo wh “gay and proud” amongst my thls, pre-teen peers.The schoolyard tntg related to Gap is one of the most formative memori I have about fashn — and my own queerns.

GAP = GAY AND PROUD? I DON'T THK SO, HELP ME!

But when you add the opns and judgement of the outsi world, thgs n get tricky.I will adm, my early 2000s search history on dial-up Inter probably ntaed the phrase “Do Gap really mean ‘Gay And Proud?’” But even so, I only half-heartedly typed the qutn to Ask Jeev.

I already knew the answer — of urse didn’t mean gay and proud.

‘GAY AND PROUD’ HISTORIL FILM PROVIS LOOK BACK AT EARLY PRI MARCH

But that didn’t stop children om latchg on the the psdo-acronym as a form of homophobic bullyg. “I walked to middle school as a fifth grar wh a GAP hoodie on and had to go home and Google what ‘gay’ meant,” 25-year-old Meghan Welch, who is one of my former classmat, tells me. Queer sexualy wasn't somethg often talked about my small Massachetts town, and I certaly didn't know any queer people.The “gay and proud” Gap tnt ma abundantly clear that LGBTQ sexualy was supposed to be shameful and hidn.

GAY ASIAN PROUD (GAP): QUTNG STEREOTYP & ASSUMPTNS

Though people were certaly “gay and proud” 1969, beg so openly was met wh vlence and ristance. Nothg the brand’s history pots to a queered ceptn.Ben Pchnie/Getty Imag News/Getty ImagThough Gap don’t officially mean “gay and proud,” the pany hasn’t been aaid to champn those who are gay and proud recent years. No, Gap self isn't gay.

GAP: GAY ASIAN PROUD

But sure is proud when to cludg queerns s social good missn.A Global Brandg ProblemWhile the ter is peppered wh Snop articl and media platforms addrsg Gap’s “gay and proud problem,” the roots of the tnt will probably never tly be unvered.

And that’s pecially due to how wispread the teasg once was on middle school playgrounds, reachg my schoolyard and beyond.“I’m queer and was specifilly aaid to wear clothg that implied I was gay as a middle schooler, cludg the GAP thg,” 23-year-old Bec L'Hrx, who grew up my hometown, says. But back then was kd of sthg, bee I was still tryg to ‘fd myself.’”Twenty-year-old Maggie, who is bisexual and grew up on Long Island, remembers hearg the “gay and proud” tntg om boys elementary school. Though wasn’t directed at her, the teasg still impacted how she saw Gap clothg — and herself.“Back then, I didn’t know I was gay,” she says.

“But I still didn’t want to wear [Gap clothg] for fear that people would thk I was gay and then bully me. The bullyg ma me thk that gays would always be bullied, as would alli bee if you stuck up for one of the kids, you would be lled gay, too.”But the Gap-related tntg didn’t only happen on the east ast of the Uned Stat.

GAP GAY AND PROUD QUOT & SAYGS

"At the time, I didn’t know I was bisexual, as I didn’t disver this until I was 15, but I remember feelg bad for homosexuals that was lghed at and the word ‘gay’ was beg ed to tease someone," she explas.Ted S Warren/AP/ShutterstockIn all s, the Gap tnt enuraged those I talked to and many social media ers to avoid the brand’s clothg to not be a target of ridicule by peers — and the same n be said for me. But did fe how many queer people my generatn experienced Gap’s brand and, for me, how I still thk of Gap every time I see the inic logo sweatshirt.The Tntg FasThough Gap ed now champns those who are “gay and proud,” the brand’s moniker seems to no longer be associated wh the phrase as a schoolyard tnt, at least on a mass ternatnal sle.

Yet, you n fely fd homophobic slurs both the hallways of schools and on social media — jt ask any queer preteen today.While no one om Gap, Inc. Uld give me ment on the schoolyard tnt and whether ’s somethg addrsed ternally, I recently went to a Gap store New York Cy to ask if the employe still hear ctomers askg about if the pany’s name stands for “gay and proud.” Walkg through the store, the Gap logo of three simple, bold letters was on everythg om T-shirts to sweatshirts to sweatpants. When approachg workers to ask if they still hear the phrase “gay and proud” reference to the brand, I felt extremely silly.

“I’m om the Caribbean and when I had gone home, my fay asked ‘Oh, do really stand for ‘gay and proud?’” the store manager tells me.