Tyler, The Creator Launches Anti-Homophobia T-Shirt
He's been accused of being homophobic himself, but Odd Future rapper Tyler, the Creator has just released a t-shirt promoting gay rights.
Re-appropriating the "White Pride Worldwide" symbol used by neo-Nazis, the shirt features a rainbow version of the logo with the slogan "Golf Pride Worldwide," a reference to Tyler's fashion line, Golf Wang.
Tyler posted a photo wearing the shirt and holding another man's hand.
On Tumblr, he writes:
I asked myself some questions: What if a black guy wore this logo on a shirt? Would he be promoting self hate? Would he be taking the power out of a shape?
What if a gay guy wore this on a shirt? Would he promoting Homophobia? Then BAM! I Had it. Throw a little rainbow in the logo (i still wonder, who was the guy that said a rainbow is the gay symbol? thats another article stay tuned) and take a photo with a white guy in it and we have an amazing photo.
The thing that tops it off is the homo erotic tone of the hand holding, which to some degree HAS to piss off the guys who takes this logo serious. This made the photo even more important to me, because it was me playing with the idea of taking the power out of something so stupid.
So is Tyler supporting LGBT equality or just hoping to "piss off" some white supremacists? Or is he just hyping his own fashion label?
Anticipating criticism, Tyler writes:
I'm legit one of the least homophobic guys to walk this earth but, most people just read the surface. But maybe someone will see this photo and say 'hey, he’s just mocking gays' or 'this has a negative undertone to it, he is still pushing this homophobic whatever the fuck it is'.
What ever it is, i just wanted to give you guys some background info on the design before you purchase the shirt. You should know what you are wearing.
The Grammy nominee has come under fire for using the word "faggot" in his lyrics—213 times just on his album Goblin—but insists "it's just a word."
Tyler was also supportive of Odd Future member Frank Ocean's coming out, saying he was one of the first people Ocean told.
h/t: NME
