Welcome to Chinatown’s new merchandise line is giving back for Pride month 2021
Photographs by Eric Zhang
Pride Month is the time for us to recognize and celebrate the sacrifices and achievements of the LGBTQIA+ community. Originating from the Stonewall Riots in 1969, Pride Month has continued to evolve and take precedent all over the world. Although this signifies a time for celebration, the narrative that the West "invented" queerness, along with the trend of corporations commercializing Pride, plays a role in the erasure of Queer Asians from discourse. So, we took this month to spotlight meaningful pieces designed by queer AAPI designers and artists, including Harry Trinh (Head of Creative) and Vincent Chong (NYC-based fine artist). This collection features a limited-edition queer coding-inspired t-shirt and rainbow bucket hat that celebrates intersectionality, cultural roots, and colorful identities.
The Inspiration Behind the Welcome to Chinatown Pride T-Shirt
Harry Trinh took inspiration for this t-shirt from century-old queer coding. In the 1890s, queer people used to wear sprigs of lavender on their lapel to signal their sexuality to other queer folks, done to avoid harsh laws against homosexuality. He merged this concept with a menu design, a recognizable image in the Chinese American community, to bring things full circle.
“As a queer person working with the Chinatown community, I have never felt like there was a symbol or thing that embodied my pride for my roots and my sexual identity.” Harry wanted to dismantle the notion that queerness is an invention of the West, which inspired the front pocket design “We are not an invention of the West, 西方沒有發明我們.” The t-shirt also has a back screen print design featuring bilingual translations and commentary about queerness.
“Queer people have always been around us, contributing to the community in meaningful ways. We are not outcasts that don’t cherish our roots. We are proud of our multitudes of identities.”
Shirt sizes range from S-2XL. You can get it for $30 here.
The Inspiration Behind the Welcome to Chinatown Pride Bucket Hat
Bucket hats are all the rage right now, so might as well add our Rainbow Bucket Hat to your collection. This was designed by Vincent Chong, a fine-based artist based in NYC. He wanted to reinvent the rainbow pride icon into one that was more representative of the AAPI queer community. The pale tie-dye color choice represents the various types of rainbows, symbolizing the various identities of people. Since rainbows were believed to be relatives of dragons and snakes in ancient China, Vincent applied this belief to showcase the rainbow symbolism as a bridge between individuals.
“Because of the co-opting of Pride by cis-white men, the rainbow flag that we're all familiar with often feels like it represents someone else, not me or my community as a Queer Chinese-American member of the QTBIPOC community.”
Grab your Welcome to Chinatown Pride Bucket Hat for $25. Don’t wait- limited supply available.
All Profits Will Go to Q-Wave
All profits from this collection will go to Q-Wave, a New York City non-profit dedicated to strengthening the voices of LGBTQIA+ Asian and Pacific Islander residents. Since 2014, they’ve made it their mission to build a strong and belonging community, create awareness around social justice issues, increase queer Asian visibility, and seek to uplift marginalized voices. These funds will help keep their public workshops free and accessible to anyone in the community. Their workshops are led by expert QTBIPOC leaders or active allies and cover a range of topics including de-escalation, knowing your rights, cybersecurity, and zine-making. We’re honored to partner with a trail-blazing organization while uplifting the queer community. You can learn more about them on their website and Instagram.
Grab your Welcome to Chinatown Pride merch, just in time for Pride festivals and summer festivities. This is a limited-edition collection and won’t be here for long. If you buy any of our merchandise, don’t forget to show it off and tag us @welcome.to.chinatown.
