Frequently Asked Questions
Which charitable organizations do you support?
There are so many amazing LGTBQ+ organizations to choose from that it was difficult to narrow down. Our answer to this question may change as we grow; we wanted to limit it to two organizations so we can hopefully make a more sizeable donation rather than dividing it up into smaller amounts across multiple organizations.
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We chose the Trevor Project for their commitment to suicide prevention among our LGBTQ+ youth. For our second charitable organization we selected the Austin LGBT Coalition on Aging for their commitment to a better future for our aging LGBTQ community. We felt it was important to help support a local organization, and we wanted to donate to a different demographic of the LGBTQ+ community.
Why did you choose the Trevor Project for donations?
This is a really tough topic for me to talk about, many of us Gen X folks grew up in a time where we were to be seen and not heard. This isn't a "bash the boomers" session by any means, as we evolve as a society we recognize things that need to change and what is considered normal often changes. Suicide is one of those topics that was taboo, and it still is to many people today.
We MUST normalize talking about it though, because suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24 (Hedegaard, Curtin, & Warner, 2018). LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers (Johns et al., 2019; s et al., 2020).
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On October 14, 2014, my Mom took her own life at the age of 57. My youngest sibling was 21 at the time, I'm the oldest and I had just turned 40. Even though we were all adults, it was crippling for all four of us kids. None of us are the same today because of the impact it had on our lives.
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Trevor Project plays a monumental role in suicide prevention for our LGBTQ+ youth, offering counseling, information, and a safe space for the international LGBTQ+ community to connect with one another. This organization allows us to help support three causes we are passionate about here at Pride Shirts; suicide prevention, access to mental health, and supporting people who are LGBTQ+.
How much of my donation directly supports the cause?
Driven by making an impact and inspiring change, our charitable donations are given to organizations dedicated to expanding the understanding of contemporary issues that the LGBTQ+ community faces. Our donations will increase as our business grows, but a minimum of 10% of our annual profits will be allocated to our chosen organizations. The Be Curious collection has a different model, as we have not created those items ourselves. We followed the lead of the Trevor Project, an amazing ally of the LGBTQ+ community, and we donate 84% of our profits from that collection directly to the Trevor Project.
What's with the Men's sizes only on tanks?
I wish I had a better response for this, but it is a vendor issue. There are many vendors we can choose from, but Bella + Canvas is the best product at the most economical price. There are cheaper brands, but the samples we received were scratchy, too thick, too thin, etc. B + C was "just-right." Unfortunately, the manufacturer and the print vendor have to come to some agreement, and volume usually dictates prices and availability.
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The women's and unisex sizes are $5 apiece more. To be transparent, we don't make $5 per shirt in profit. That would leave us with the choice of increasing overall prices to offset losses from one product with profits in another...or to charge $24.99 for women's and unisex sized tanks. While ladies may be used to paying more for clothes than men (trust me, I have heard all about that from my team here at Pride Shirts), it doesn't sit well with me. It feels like opportunistic pricing to increate profit "just because we can." Unfair. So at this moment, we are at an impasse. Hopefully one day our volume will increase to a point we can demand lower pricing, or the manufacturer and print vendor will work something out...and we are continually monitoring the situation and will rectify as soon as we can.
What is with the pricing differences when we get into the plus sizes?
This also relates to the previous question regarding the "men's only" sizes on our tanks. We chose the best vendor based on price, value, and quality. We were also excited to see they carried sized above 2X, which is the standard most of the vendors carry. B + C went up to 5X, and that caught our attention.
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The part we don't care for is the price increases between sizes. Again, this is a problem we can solve a few ways. We wither increase the prices on all products to cover a loss on another, we simply do not carry a product or a line of a particular brand, or we incrementally increase prices as the manufacturer does on their product. We make the exact same amount on all of our tees. That is why the price between an XS and a 5X may vary, we wish there was a better way to both offer the product and not tier pricing, but at this point it is the best idea we could come up with. Thoughts, please share? We are happy to listen to our customers and re-evalaute policies as we go.
You are so funny, and handsome. Are you single?
Ok, so this isn't a frequently asked question. But since "I" asked, yes I am. I have way too much personality for one person to handle, and I've yet to find a couple to join.
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In all seriousness though, I was married for many years, and that "right to marriage" was something I never thought I would have. Attitudes and opinions are changing, there is so far to go and we aren't getting there fast enough, but things are mostly changing for the better for our community.