Unless you’re a homophobe, an idiot, or a 7-year-old boy, you probably know better than to use the word “gay” as a synonym for “stupid.” But in case you fall into one of those three categories, allow us to introduce you to the Gay Sweater, an apparel item knitted from the hairs of more than 100 LGBT kids that’s being touted as “the world’s first and only gay object.”
That’s right. It’s a sweater that is literally gay, because it’s made from the DNA of literally gay people.
Created by the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the Gay Sweater project is intended to raise awareness of LGBT issues and combat the problem of people using the word “gay” as a slur.
“We were walking around school and people were like, ‘That test is so gay and that homework’s so gay and someone said that sweater’s so gay,’” Jeremy Dias, the director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, told the Huffington Post. “We thought, what would it take to make a sweater that’s so gay to literalize the expression?”
In any other instance, if someone wanted to make your hair into a sweater, you’d probably politely excuse yourself and contact the nearest 911 dispatcher. But, Dias says, queer and trans people jumped at the opportunity. The garment was knitted by two women in Toronto, making its debut during Toronto Fashion Week.
In the future, the sweater will likely be used in the centre’s LGBT workshops. Sorry, hair fetishists and medieval monk wannabes: You probably won’t be able to buy it and wear it around the house. But then again, that’s probably for the best. Because while that Gay Sweater might be both gay and educational, it’s also, sadly, super-fugly.
H/T Huffington Post Canada | Screengrab via CCGSD/YouTube