GNS Pride and Equality Club Launches Limited Edition 2023 Pride Shirt to Support Rainbow Railroad

Designed collaboratively with the GNS Design department, these t-shirts allow all members of our community to show support for this important cause and to celebrate inclusion at our school and beyond. Staff and students will have the opportunity to wear their shirts during Pride Week which is taking place during the week of May 29.

This is the second year Zoe Carroll has been part of the Pride and Equality Club and while she enjoys the work of helping to plan speakers, presentations and Pride Week in June, she also really values the connections she has made. “Having a space with other community members is so valuable,” she says. “Usually, we hang out during the lunch portion of the club and plan, do round circles and have discussions during activity time.”

Recognizing Pride Month is important to the group. Last year, they organized a Pride week, but this year they wanted to do more.

“This year, we’ve gone bigger and better and making T-Shirts was one of our new ambitious ideas,” Zoe shares. “We also know that there are many LGBTQ+ people who are less fortunate than us and fundraising to help our community was on our priority list. After a lot of research, we voted to donate all of the funds from pride week (sales and t-shirts) to Rainbow Railroad, because we believe that this could make real change.”

Rainbow Railroad is a global not-for-profit organization that helps LGTBQI+ people facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. In a time when there are more displaced people than ever before, LGBTQI+ people are uniquely vulnerable due to systemic, state-enabled homophobia and transphobia. These factors either displace them in their own country or prevent them from escaping harm.

“Taking initiative on projects like Pride Week has been incredibly rewarding because I can raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues at GNS and help others like me,” says Zoe.

T-shirts can be pre-ordered online by anyone in our community, are $20 each, and are available in both youth and adult sizes. They will be available for pickup at both the Pemberton Woods and Beach Drive campuses.