When I asked Carrie about the inspiration behind her original design, she spoke about her excitement of public art and activism coming together in the 80’s and the 90’s with a level of creativity and inventiveness. “You know, pretty unknown to most people.” “That is also history that needs to be exposed,” she said. She assumed they would want to talk about Dyke Action Machine, the public art project she founded in 1991 with photographer Sue Schaffner, that had previously spoofed the Gap (as seen in the original tweet above), but was pleased to hear they were actually interested in The Avengers. Carrie, a faculty member at Hunter College as well as an artist, said she’s been concerned about the “shortage of knowledge about recent history” in the queer community for quite some time, and in that context was interested in talking to the Gap. Avram, an artist, writer, and activist most famous for his work with Silence=Death, is someone Carrie considers a “partner in crime” when it comes to agitprop. We connected through a mutual friend who had told me they were interested in explaining what had really transpired.Ĭarrie explained that back in 2019, Avram Finkelstein reached out to her to see if she’d be interested in talking to an art director at the Gap about a line of Pride t-shirts the company was working on in honor of Stonewall’s upcoming 50th anniversary.
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On June 1, I sat down to chat with Carrie Moyer and Maxine Wolfe, two of the founders of the Lesbian Avengers, over Zoom. The Gap did not steal lesbian artist Carrie Moyer’s design and put it on a Pride shirt… because Carrie sold it to them. urneBbtgsWįinally, also on May 20, INTO published a piece titled Did the Gap Steal a Lesbian Artist’s Design and Put It on a Pride Shirt? which incorrectly reported the original design was created by lesbian artist Carolina Kroon (it was created by Carrie Moyer, who is correctly credited in the graphic tweeted above) and concluded: “So far, the Gap hasn’t responded to the accusations.”īut the answer to the question is no. The Su Friedrich edit ?Learn about lesbian art and activist history. On May 20, posted a photoshopped image, correctly attributing the original design to Lesbian Avenger Carrie Moyer and linking people to the Lesbian Avenger’s website, suggesting that folks should learn more about the activist group and not support a corporation such as the Gap. Predictably, Queer Twitter was horrified.
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I wish the Gap's Lesbian Avengers t-shirt was a hilarious Dyke Action Machine campaign. The 200 Best Lesbian, Bisexual & Queer Movies Of All TimeĪlmost one month ago, the queer internet exploded when it seemed that the Gap had stolen art from a lesbian activist for a Pride t-shirt campaign. On May 19, I saw a tweet by about one of the Gap’s “Pride T-Shirts” which featured the iconic logo of the Lesbian Avengers, a direct action group started in 1992.LGBTQ Television Guide: What To Watch Now.