I attended my first Pride Festival when I was 18 years old (in the summer of 1999-whew!). My friend and I drove from Kokomo to Indianapolis to check it out. We had, believe it or not, never heard of such a thing as a Pride Festival until probably the day before we decided to go. I think we heard about it from one of our co-workers, but I can’t even recall how we learned about it.
My friend was so brave. She came out at our rural high school in the late 90s. She walked hand in hand with her girlfriend though the halls in the same year we learned about the murder of Matthew Shepard on Channel One in study hall. When she said she wanted to do something we had not done before and asked me to go with her to a Pride Festival, I was excited to go along. We loved adventure and going to the big city of Indianapolis for a Pride Parade- that was some serious adventure for us! I also remember the first time she and I went to our first gay bar. We dressed up and she even put on makeup that night and we danced the night away. Despite being underage, the place was welcoming and let up slip through the door. That night was one of the first times I met a drag queen in drag. I share these memories because I am trying to think back to when I began to realize that gay people were important people in my life. Before my friend came out there were only a couple of gay men I knew who worked with my mom. But I didn’t know them, I just knew what people said about them. When my friend came out I realized I really know someone gay. Of course she was not the only person from our class who has come out, but she was the first. It’s possible she was one of the first ever at our school, period. It was quite a thing, trust me. But with her coming out there was also this quick learning curve for me that people who didn’t just make fun of gay people, but many hated them and considered their life style illegal, immoral and worse. I attribute this time in my life and my long time friend coming out as one of the first things that pushed me toward advocacy for the LGBTQ community.
The Original We Like You Here Shirt by Sunday Afternoon Housewife
Now let’s fast forward about 10 years. The original idea of the We Like You Here shirt first began not as the six-color rainbow design as it exists today, but as a solid black or blue image of the states of Indiana and Ohio. The first We Like You Here shirts were printed in 2010 and sold at craft fairs in Indiana and Ohio as well as a few retailers in Indianapolis. The original idea of the shirt was just intended as a message of the Midwest Hospitality of Indiana and Ohio that many of us are personally so familiar with. After the 2012 re-election of Barak Obama, the solid blue and black shirts became very popular sellers as some people saw them as representing their vote for Obama. The shirt became very popular in my then only 2 year old tee shirt company, Sunday Afternoon Housewife.
A very blurry cell phone image of the first printing of the rainbow We Like You Here shirt. Better pictures followed but I think this was the first picture I shared of the shirt.
In 2012 in Indiana, Mike Pence (yes, the now Vice President >insert barf emoji< ) was running for Governor of Indiana. The Attorney General Greg Zoller was filling amicus briefs in support of same-sex marriage bans and it was clear the two were were ready to start directly attacking the LGBTQ community in Indiana. Pence was a major supporter of laws such as the RFRA, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was an attempt to restrict the rights of the LGBTQ community and allow blatant discrimination against them from businesses that chose not to serve them.
After the election of Mike Pence the idea came into my mind to change the We Like You Here shirt from the solid black and solid blue images to a rainbow. Once I had the idea, I had to save to make the first printing happen with help from a friend who had a 6 color press (I only had a 4 color press at that time). The first rainbow We Like You Here shirts were printed in the late summer of 2013. A full two years before the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, the We Like You Here shirt was created.
In 2013 when I released this shirt, Pride shirts were not for sale at every big box department store. They were not even for sale at small boutique stores in Indianapolis. While others introduced their versions of Pride shirts shortly after, I know I was one of the first small, local businesses to offer a shirt combining LGTBQ Pride and Indiana. Since its creation, this shirt has been proudly worn by both members of the LGTBQ community and allies in Indiana. From the adult shirt also has come a children’s shirt, We Like You Here buttons, stickers and enamel pins and most recently earrings. There is also an Ohio state and Washington state (sold here exclusively by Monster Shop in Seattle) versions of the We Like You Here tee.
One if the most heart-warming things I have been told is by a teacher who buys the We Like You Here buttons by the handful and gives them to her students in need of support. On the other hand, I have had people say nasty things to me while selling the shirt at craft fairs. The most common is the nastily spat, “well, that certainly is NOT true. We don’t like them here.” Because I feel very strongly as an ally to the LGBTQ community that I have a responsibility to challenge people with that view point and to support the community.
As a result of my desire to support the community, over the course of the last several years, this shirt has been used to raise funds for the LGBTQ community. My small, one woman owned and run business has donated over $5,000 to Freedom Indiana (the organization that fought the RFRA bill), the ACLU, Exodus Refugee, Indy Pride. I have also donated items to Indiana Youth Group for silent auctions and more.
Like other projects I have done and shirts I have created, and other shirts I have made, I work hard to create them and do I what I can with what I have. I have the ability to produce a shirt that makes people happy to wear it and show their pride or for other to support their LGTBQ family and friends and with that shirt I also can make donations to organizations fighting for LGTBQ rights.
Indiana Transgender Pride Tee released in 2018 by Sunday Afternoon Housewife
In 2018, at the request of many community members, I started printing a Trans Pride tee shirt and have since made financial donations to Trans Student Educational Resources based off sales of the tee. I consider it an honor to create shirts that support the LGBTQ community and I will always to fight for equal rights for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Hoosiers. Despite anything our state (or federal) government does, please know there are so many of us who truly support and like you here in Indiana!
