guy in a tank top with the writing NOBODY KNOWS I'M GAY

FCKH8

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About

FCKH8 is an online retail store and activist organization that aims to highlight and raise public awareness of issues relating to the LGBTQ+ community by selling ad-hoc lines of T-shirts and other wearable merchandises bearing pro-equality, anti-racist and anti-sexist messages. While the company has received some positive exposure in the media through celebrity endorsements and bold campaign strategies, it has also come under criticism for commercially exploiting the LGBTQ movement, as well as a number of other causes relating to social injustices, and heavily pandering to young adults with provocative slogans.

Online History

FCKH8[1], or SMS shortspeak for "fuck hate," was launched by LGBTQ+ activist Luke Montgomery under the domain FCKH8.com in August 2010. At the time of the store launch, the website initially offered t-shirts and buttons with three different slogans advocating same-sex marriage (shown below).


HICKS fC s0 SOME DUDES ET OVER UNISEX "FCKH8" UNISEX "SOME CHICKS... $13.00 UNISEX "SOME DUDES.. $13.00 $13.00

In October 2010, FCKH8 released a promotional YouTube video featuring LGBTQ+ activists of all ages delivering an expletive-ridden rant against homophobia (shown below). The video has more than 2.1 million views.



Grandfather's Letter to Homophobic Daughter

On September 30th, 2013, The official FCKH8 Facebook page[6] shared a scanned image of a letter allegedly written by a grandfather to his daughter chastising her disavowal of her gay son and criticizing her backward-mindedness. The post[8] immediately went viral on Facebook, garnering more than 9,600 shares and 1,360 comments in just over two months.


en Chisne ear Con tar hare ashane in The Pam but ms talen aboutatitis hone bera osど-5と ins Mayerぞ。 /s to be 74 ene Han he bcng Handet. Yas hwever, and bachaar Sohle ave are n the bestnes f moment. tosa no co have a lous (as less daughher yoo eart, give us acall or h GAY & STR, EQUALITY TES AGAINST H8 FCKH8 .COM

Pro-Gay Coloring Book Campaign

On October 30th, 2013, FCKH8 announced a new campaign on its official Tumblr blog[2] pledging to deliver 10,000 copies of pro-gay coloring books to Russian children via mail during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, if the post receives more than 100,000 likes. In the press release, the group explained the direct mail campaign as a way to protest against the Russian government's enforcement of its controversial anti-gay propaganda laws, and secondly, to inform kids in Russia that being gay is okay.


SO RUSSIA MADE IT ILLEGAL FOR PRO-GAY WORDS TO BE SPOKEN? THAT LAWS IS ABOUT TO BE BROKEN! 100,000 TUMBLR REBLOGS & WE'LL SEND PRO-EQUALITY COLORING BOOKS TO RUSSIAN HOMES 0,000 Misha & His Moms TY Go to the Olympics! WITH KIDS DURING THE OLYMPICS! FCKH8 A CHILDREN'S COLORING BOOK BY COM FCKH8 CoM © 2013 FCKH8.com Equality T-Shirts. No permission needed to reproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted under "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. 0 0 My name is Misha. I live is Russia. My family has two moms and a dog named Laika. 2013 FCKH8.com Equality T-Shirts. No permission needed to reproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted by "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM My My moms and I went to the Olympics where l met new friends from around the world! HoBblx Apysen co Bcero MWpa! © 2013 FCKH8.com Equality干Shirts. No permission needed to reproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted by "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM My new friend Pascal has two dads who are married. They live in France. It mad up p MHe © 2013 FCKHB.com Equality T-Shirts. Nopermissionneeded to reproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted by "Tair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM
ds who ce. It made me feel sad to see the police beat up people who are gay like my moms. 2013 FCKH8.com Equality T-Shirts. No permission needed to reproduce. Use of Olympic logo protected political commentary speech permitted by "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM Two Olympic athletes kissed to show the world gay people deserve to be treated equally. © 2013 FCKHB.com Equality T-Shirts. No permissionneededtoreproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted by "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM world lly. I'm scared when the men on TV say they want to take me away from my moms. Bce. 2013 FCKH8.com Equality T-Shirts. No permission needed to reproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted by "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM 1J 0 0 SOME CHICKS MARRY CHICKS. GET OVER IT. O I dream of a Russia where my family can be treated equally like in other countries. © 2013 FCKHB.com Equality T-Shirts. No permissionneededt reproduce. Use of Olympic logo is protected political commentary speech permitted by "fair use" laws. Not a product for sale. FCKH8 COM

The announcement was mostly met with positive feedback from the Tumblr community, though some expressed valid concerns about the group's moral reasoning as well as the legal consequences for the potential recipients, most notably from Tumblr user Yanderemeganekko who criticized the campaign as "a method for spreading awareness in the west" and warned that "this will just get people in trouble."

Racism Is Not Over

On September 9th, 2014, in the wake of the fatal shooting of black teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the weeks-long riots which ensued thereafter, FCKH8 launched a new line of t-shirts, wristbands and bumper stickers bearing the slogan "Racism isn't over. But I'm over racism," along with a public service announcement video addressing the reality of racial profiling as told by six black youths from the town of Ferguson.



F Bombs for Feminism

On October 22nd, 2014, FCKH8 launched a new line of t-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandises imprinted with the slogan "Girls Just Want to Have Fun-damental Rights." The announcement was accompanied by a PSA video titled "Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism," which features a group of young girls, between the age of six and 13, dressed as pink princesses and using explicit language to draw attention to gender inequality issues like pay inequality and the rape culture.



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