"Love is Love" T-shirt by Stonewall and S&M (yes, really)

[BridgetPhillipsonIsACowardlyJobsworth]

One of Stonewall's contributions to the innocuous "Pride Month":

https://www.stonewall.org.uk/news/stonewall-launches-range-of-collabs-to-mark-pride-month

Stonewall has partnered with three top designers and a renowned comic publisher to create a range of merchandise to mark this year’s Pride month. All profits to go to supporting its purpose of creating a safe and equal world where all LGBTQ+ people can live, work and thrive.

The House of Kind “We Are All Equals™️” tee, created in collaboration with Single Swan, is designed to symbolise unity and allyship and features an embroidered equals sign and love heart as a reminder that all deserve to be treated fairly and equally. [My bold. I'd like to believe they meant this].

Oh, dear, one of their "collabs" is a brand called Scotty & Mirko (S&M - I kid you not!) with a T-shirt that says "Love is Love."
https://shop.stonewall.org.uk/collections/scotty-mirko-x-stonewall

Do they really not know anything about history, or are they just hoping we won't notice?

Are we taking bets as to when the T-shirt will be pulled? Or are we assuming that Stonewall are really that arrogant, and/or think that no one will notice? (could go either way, I guess)

I suppose the designers have already been paid, unless they are contracted for a percentage of the sales, or unless they have done this pro bono. Now why would anyone design something like this for free?

😄

On Cardiff we had a guy in a full gimp suit, complete with hood. Totally normal daytime attire. I was just glad I chose not to wear mine as I would have been so embarrassed to be matching.

At least on my part I'm not accusing anyone of anything, I literally don't understand the reference. There's comments on here about pedophilia, but which term was linked to it? When, by who? I'm googling like crazy and I can't figure it out, can someone please loop me in 😭

You could read the thread. Posts 11.53 and 12.18 earlier on the thread are examples.

I had to read the comments as I didn’t
see the issue.
I still don’t.
When I think “Love is Love” I think of same sex marriage equality (it was everywhere during the Australian marriage equality referendum.) I think precious few would think of the other connection stated here (paedophilia). Especially those who did not exist in the 70s.

That said, I’d imagine almost everyone these days recognises “love is love” as one of the most famous slogans of the international gay rights movement, especially with regards to same-sex marriage?

Yep - this.

I think it’s a small minority of people who associate it with paedophiles.

I would imagine Stonewall is hoping that most people think as you do, because if not, they've either made an embarrassing error here, or they know exactly what they are doing... (or forgot , or didn't think about it, or didn't care, or hoped we wouldn't notice...)

If the slogan has been reclaimed, so be it.
I accept that fewer and fewer people will recognise its murky association as time moves on.
To me it's creepy, but then I and my gay mates don't like "queer" either because to us it's a slur.

Mate.

Stonewall know all about paedophile links, they spent years trying to distance themselves from the PIE people

Please don't make me type out Ian Dunn's name again! Its starting to be every day at the moment.

Oh it's SO bad. So so so bad.
Several levels of bad in fact.
It HAS to be deliberate.

I mean, I’m no designer, but wouldn’t you want clear blue water between you and any suspicion of impropriety? The whole point of Pride was about same sex relationships being healthy and normal and nothing to be ashamed of.

Unlike pedophilia. And the Love is Love slogan was an attempt to get people to accept that ‘everything’ is ok. That pedophilia is also nothing to be ashamed of. There have been many who are still visible and lauded in the gay rights movement who have written about the beauty and benefits of love between adult men and children. <coughPeterTatchelcough>

And if I were fundraising for Pride I’d want acres of space between me and accusations of perversion.

I believe I was either being facetious or choosing my words VERY carefully to avoid "complications." I imagine I am already on their radar because of the Diversity Role Models thread.

Actually in between typing my response the 'quote' changed from the one I was quoting to yours. I was responding to this:

I think it’s a small minority of people who associate it with paedophiles.

No worries. I have no doubt that Stonewall know exactly what they are doing. After all, they are a well-established organization, been around the block a few times, and have a long history. No doubt they have had plenty of legal and business advice about How To Sell T-shirts...

🙂

I associate the slogan with marriage equality campaigns, that's all.
I associate the letters S&M with the sado-masochism movement, which in some ways was a bit of a precursor to the trans movement, in the way it glommed onto the lesbian and gay movement in the... 80s, was it?

It's a very boring t-shirt.

T-shirt still for sale in their shop, BTW.

Are you sure? I don't recall that at all. I thought their big slogan was Love Has No Age Limit.

I've been trying to find any evidence of PIE using the phrase "love is love" and failing so far- if anyone has any sources on this I'd really appreciate it

I remember it as a song:

Sadly google just finds a bunch of weird Christian websites arguing that because it doesn't says God is love that the phrase is evil and so are homosexuals.

I’ve been looking for evidence that PIE used Love is Love. I haven’t anything so far. I’m wondering if it’s actually a myth.

I actually can’t see Stonewall wanting to associate themselves with paedophiles because it is obvious that it would upset people.

As for the t-shirt - not my taste but assuming the slogan is not associated with paedophila, then I don’t see an issue. I think the S&M brand name is funny.

Chatgpt says
"Love is love" originated as a rallying cry in the marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights movements, solidifying in the early to mid-2000s. It was popularized to argue that same-sex romantic love is inherently as valid, beautiful, and legitimate as opposite-sex relationships.
The origins and evolution of the phrase span several decades:1984 Pop Music: The exact phrase gained early visibility through the Culture Club single "Love is Love", featured on a re-release of their album Waking Up with the House on Fire.

Early 2000s Advocacy: The phrase became a prominent slogan deployed in various grassroots arguments to normalize same-sex relationships and combat anti-gay prejudice.
The phrase became a critical defensive slogan during the campaign surrounding Proposition 8 (Prop 8), a controversial ballot initiative designed to amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Initially, the "No on 8" campaign relied heavily on legal and abstract arguments regarding "rights and benefits". "Love is love" became a central counter-narrative to traditionalist messaging.

2016 Tony Awards: The phrase reached a massive global audience when composer Lin-Manuel Miranda recited an acceptance sonnet featuring the repeated line, "And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love," in honor of the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

While some critics point out that the slogan is largely an emotional appeal rather than a formal, academic argument, sociologists and historians recognize it as one of the defining mantras that helped reframe societal perspectives on human rights in the modern era."

But why not?

They chose it because the logic works for them as much as anyone else.

It is and always was a moronic slogan.