What Do Gap Stand For? The History Of The Schoolyard Tnt Of Gap Standg For "Gay & Proud"

Contents:

• ARE 'THE GAP' STOR NAMED FOR 'GAY AND PROUD'?
• NO, GAP DON'T STAND FOR "GAY & PROUD," BUT THE SCHOOLYARD TNT STILL FOLLOWS ME TODAY
• GAP - GAY AND PROUD? RETAILER SLAMMED BY PARENTG GROUP FOR PRO-HOMOSEXUAL ADVERTISG MPAIGN

ARE 'THE GAP' STOR NAMED FOR 'GAY AND PROUD'?

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

NO, GAP DON'T STAND FOR "GAY & PROUD," BUT THE SCHOOLYARD TNT STILL FOLLOWS ME TODAY

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 schoolyard tntg related to Gap is one of the most formative memori I have about fashn — and my own queerns.

I will adm, my early 2000s search history on dial-up Inter probably ntaed the phrase “Do Gap really mean ‘Gay And Proud? I already knew the answer — of urse didn’t mean gay and proud. 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 “gay and proud” Gap tnt ma abundantly clear that LGBTQ sexualy was supposed to be shameful and hidn.

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

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 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. 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.

“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. ’”Twenty-year-old Maggie, who is bisexual and grew up on Long Island, remembers hearg the “gay and proud” tntg om boys elementary school. “Back then, I didn’t know I was gay, ” she says.