Mougee (moo-jee) has always celebrated pride month in a way that publicly expresses our love of and support for the LBGTQ+ community. As owner of Mougee, and in my personal life, I have always been outspoken on this subject for several reasons.
One, it is the last group of people in the US that you can legally discriminate against because of who they are. It is illegal to discriminate because of age, religion, ethnicity, but these same protections for sexual orientation or gender identity have never been embraced by the Supreme Court, or codified into federal law. Particularly in the current political environment, not only are LGBTQ+ people not protected, but are getting attacked by the very government that is entrusted to protect all people against discrimination. For this reason, I feel the voices of people and companies that want change is essential to create any momentum toward true equal protection under that law.
Two, it’s personal. People I care about deeply are members of this unprotected class. I feel genuine pride in seeing them step up and to let themselves be seen for who they are. Seems like it’s a no brainer, to publicly be who you are, but I have seen too many gay and trans people who have been frightened to death of being found out, and I have seen tragedy after tragedy of those who are brave enough to stand up and be seen get hurt and punished for being who they are. It takes a fraction of that courage to stand up and support them and their battle.
The third reason I will mention here (I could go on and on), is that sometimes it is hard to know what the right thing is. Which position is right and which is wrong. Will history prove you to be a force of good or evil? When it comes to LGBGTQ+ rights, it is not hard to know right from wrong. To stand with people who just want to be accepted for who they are is not a tough decision. To disassociate from those that would condemn them for who they are is not a tough decision. It is rare that life struggles can be presented with such an obvious choice.
It is for these reasons and more, that Mougee stands with pride for and with the LGBTQ+ community, and shares in the pride and celebration of the simple act of people being who they are. We decided to commemorate Pride Month with a Mougee lapel pin that we send for free with every order for the month of June. Wear it with Pride. We are proud to have our name on it.
Mitch
Owner and Founder of Mougee