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
• BALENCIAGA REWORKS THE INIC GAP LOGO, MAK IT GAY TO CELEBRATE PRI
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• ‘GAY AND PROUD’ HISTORIL FILM PROVIS LOOK BACK AT EARLY PRI MARCH

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.

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

(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.

The creative featur notable nam such as pneerg trans nway mol, Connie Flemg; founr of Born Perfect Foundatn, dited to fightg to end gay nversn therapy, Mathew Shurka; former InStyle EIC, wrer, and founr of ABBAPAPA, a parentg newsletter,  Ariel Foxman and his hband, tor Brandon Cart-Hernanz; fashn signer, creative director, and food enthiast, Peter Som; artist, activist and tor, Bradley Miller; chef and thor, Angela Dimayuga. The four artists—Serge Gay Jr., Andy Bellomo, Parisa Parnian, and Mars Ch—e fashn as a form of exprsn, wh style playg an important role each artist’s life, both profsnally and personally.

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

In honor of PRIDE, Athleta is partnerg wh the Women’s Sports Foundatn to donate $50, 000 om the Power of She Fund to Athlete Ally, an anizatn dited to endg homophobia and transphobia and champng LGBTQIA+ equaly sport. 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.

BALENCIAGA REWORKS THE INIC GAP LOGO, MAK IT GAY TO CELEBRATE PRI

“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.

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.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

“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. “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.

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

"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 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 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 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. 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?

Though that may lor my personal view of the brand, there's also another nugget of tth: If I cid to wear a Gap logo sweatshirt today, I would no longer be ashamed if someone tnted me wh the "gay and proud" phrase.