“Gay” cardigan created by Canadian LGBT people’s hair aims to end misuse of word “gay”
Image: The Gay Sweater.
A CARDIGAN knit from the donated hair of more than 100 LGBT people has taken social media by storm, with the aim of raising awareness on the incorrect and offensive use of language like “that’s so gay” to negatively describe something.
Known as the Gay Sweater, it made its debut during Toronto Fashion Week this week and is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD).
“I would love to grow up in a world where ‘that’s so gay’ wasn’t a thing,” CCGSD director Jeremy Dias said in a YouTube video unveiling the creation.
“I want people to understand why they need to stop saying it.”
Having been wholly knitted from the hair of hundreds of LGBT Canadians, the Gay Sweater has been described as “the world’s first and only gay object”.
The cardigan has all different shades of brown, blonde and black hair, rainbow coloured-buttons, plus a tag that says “100% gay”.
“This is like the strangest project I’ve worked on,” Brenna Macdonald, one of the knitters, said in the behind-the-scenes video of the campaign.
“All of the little bits of hair were sticking to my skin. It made me look like an ape man.”
The campaign encourages social media uses to share the cardigan’s story with the #TheGaySweater hashtag, as well make a donation to CCGSD.
Watch the campaign video:
