Visibility During Pride Month
VC is fortunate to call Corey Wakefield a friend. We learn from him and are inspired by his activism online, from which there is always a lesson to be learned.
When we released the Pronouns collection, a collaboration with Kellan Gibboney, Corey suggested a Trans Pride design which became our Trans Pronouns Revolution. We then expanded it to our Non-binary Pronouns Revolution and both of our Pride Pronouns Revolutions.
We are thankful to Corey for his idea, and for sharing thoughts with us on the importance of visibility.
Why is Visibility Important During Pride Month?
For my recent thesis I have written about visibility countless times – that visibility is essential in order to create organizational change and challenge negative perceptions about the LGBTIQA community, that visibility is more than just rainbow lanyards and inclusive email signatures etc.
Visibility within sport is the difference between participation and attrition for young LGBTIQA+ athletes. Young people need to have role models that demonstrate to them that you can come to sport, regardless of the code, as you are and bring your whole self to the team, club, association and competition.
As a queer transmasculine person, I’m afforded cis-het passing privilege in most social circles however I made a decision (largely influenced by my other privileges – white, educated, middle socioeconomic, stable job) to be an ‘out athlete’ even once my gender stopped being questioned on the line. Growing up there weren’t many ‘out’ athletes of the gay or lesbian variety and even now the trans athletic community is small enough that we can celebrate our wins, advocate for our rights and compete together. By choosing to be loud, proud and out we’re choosing to use our visibility to create change, inspire the next generation of athletes and changing the narrative.
To do this visibility needs to occur outside of the month of June. Whilst I’m an enthusiastic fan of the rainbow washing that comes with pride month (because let’s face it, everyone needs new rainbow thongs, it takes a special company to commit to the inclusion agenda year round. VC is a great example of that kind of company.
When Adriana and VC first released the pronoun hoodies I was immediately in love – apparel that sparks a conversation is always a favourite of mine. But it was the message, the knowledge sharing and the personal stories like Kellan’s that makes this line (and VC’s other Pride lines) different to the rainbow washing that usually occurs during Pride Month. As a company they’re dedicated to encouraging dialogue, challenging the norm and positioning minority athletes within the centre of the conversation, as athletes we should invest back into this conversation.
Photo credit: Holly Thompson