HYDE PARK — Two organizations have teamed up to make a Pride T-shirt and donate a portion of the proceeds to the Brave Space Alliance, a Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ organization on the South Side.
Raygun, an Andersonville clothing store, and Peach Presents, an LGBTQ collective, are working together to produce and sell the shirt. It features the phrase, “Pride is a Protest,” as June is Pride Month.
The shirt costs $23 and can be bought online.
A portion of the funds from each sale in June will go to the Brave Space Alliance, a Hyde Park-based group that creates programming and provides resources for LGBTQ people on the South and West sides. The group has provided services to residents amid ongoing protests against police brutality.
LaSaia Wade, the founder and executive director of the Brave Space Alliance, said the center has set up three sites for protesters to get food and water. The group is also about to launch coronavirus testing to ensure protestors are safe and healthy, she said.
“Just a statement is not enough these days anymore for anyone to set aside,” Wade said.
In light of the pandemic that shuttered most of the city, Brave Space Alliance also opened a food pantry and moved its support groups and programming online.
Bre Auberry, the president of Black Thread Agency, the company that produces Peach Presents, said in a statement that Pride is a time when people can fight “for justice and liberation for the Black community.”
“Brave Space Alliance is a beacon of light in our community and its existence as a Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ center is so important and needed,” Auberry wrote. “Thanks to Raygun for this opportunity to support Brave Space Alliance and create something for Pride month that makes a statement and gives back. Pride is not a party, Pride is a protest, and we’ll continue to fight for justice and liberation for the Black community.”
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