The picture has Flat Freire posing with 2 T-Shirts from the world’s 2 most popular athletic brands Nike and Adidas, that show their support for the LGBT community. Each brand has it’s own individual approach to show their support, Nike using a color spectrum in their familiar Swoosh logo paired with the statement “Be True” and Adidas utilizing a splash of color behind their Superstar logo, the brands most popular shoe. With the world’s most popular brands promoting the LGBT community, they show promotion of acceptance and appreciation of an individual’s beliefs, and encourage those to embrace their unique values! As discussed throughout Henig’s article entitled, “Rethinking Gender” it addresses the various struggles that people within the Transgender community struggle with, such as fitting in, being accepted within a classroom, and questioning their gender identity; quoting the article directly, “Transgender people are at extremely high risk to be bullied, to be sexually assaulted, or to attempt suicide”. The overall fear of an individual’s choice and decisions being judged by a society not quite like them and incapable of understanding completely, leaves them in fear of expressing their true selves. As displayed throughout the images and their captions, you’re introduced to younger kids and their experiences being Transgender and essentially embracing their decisions, including Henry assigning himself as “gender creative”, and Oti being the leader to her father by embracing her gender! Therefore with open promotion and acceptance of one’s personal choices, we as a society can make the world a better place for those making perhaps the toughest decision of their lives, and by showing them we support them and welcome them to be themselves!
-Aaron E.