Try On These Hooters!
Oh, gosh, what to wear for the Pride Parade and all those parties, parties, parties?
How about a crisp, new "homos are a hoot!" T-shirt?
Why are you snickering?
Think about it: a cleverly provocative, yet simple ('Tis the gift...) designerly T that, yes, is the fruit of a project to raise money for worthy non-profits.
The shirts are the brain-children of former U of Illinois student Kevin Hauswirth and long time Chicago buddy Derek Britton. Hauswirth originally dreamed them up in 2004 to support National Coming Out Day on campus and last year Britton thought of bringing them back by launching the website: http://www.homosareahoot.com/hook.html
Hauswirth explains it this way: "It's a fun, grassroots project started by a couple friends in our free time as a means to raise some funds for great organizations while getting rockin' shirts on cool people."
This time the mission behind the shirts is to raise money for:
? The Point Foundation, which provides financial support, mentoring and hope to meritorious students who are marginalized due to sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity.
? Campus Pride, which provides necessary resources, programs and services to support LGBT and ally students on college campuses across the United States.
? Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG), which promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends.
"Our goal," says Hauswirth, "is to be able to give as much of the profits as possible to these organizations. As sales increase and we cover start-up costs, we will be able to maximize the level of donations. We're still working on standardizing the exact numbers, but are currently aiming at around 50% of the profits going to the orgs as we ramp up."
The shirts are a 50/50 cotton/poly blend and cost $17 each. What's the response to them been like?
"Just wear a "homos are a hoot" shirt out one night and see for yourself!" says Hauswirth, "We've gotten very positive response."