The Importance of PRIDE

Aurifil is proud to share our love of thread & textiles, to herald our incredible staff, designers, artisans, and educators, AND to support our wonderfully talented and diverse community of makers. By producing the best thread, we’re afforded this forum. Here, we continue to share Aurifil’s core values which revolve around benevolence and the prosperity of our entire community.

We celebrate PRIDE for how it connotes strength, empowerment, and resilience, in the face of an ever-present fight against discrimination, prejudice, hatred, and inequality experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community. We have curated a library of resources that we’ve found valuable for education, conversation, and collaborative advocacy. We’d invite you to share your own links in the comments so that we and our full range of readers might find some new avenues for continued education.

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SUPPORT

While we acknowledge that progress has been made, there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done. There are countless amazing organizations worldwide who are doing that work and creating that needed space. As Aurifil USA is located in Chicago, IL, we’ve made a donation to the Brave Space Alliance for 2022. Their mission:

Brave Space Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city. We strive to empower, embolden, and educate each other through mutual aid, knowledge-sharing, and the creation of community-sourced resources as we build toward the liberation of all oppressed peoples.

We encourage you to check out their website to learn more about the work they are doing in the Chicago area. Thanks to ongoing support, the were recently able to open a Community Center/Shelter for Trans Women in the South Shore.

We’re including some other amazing organizations below, but there are so many! Research those working for change in your area and see what you can do to support, volunteer, contribute.

• GLSEN
• Gilbert Baker Foundation
• Stonewall.org
• The Trevor Project
• Human Rights Campaign
• Harvey Milk Foundation

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LISTEN

• Making Gay History (Podcast)
• LGBTQ&A (Podcast)
• Outward (Podcast)
• Celebrating Pride (Audiobooks via Libro.fm)
• Stories of Pride 2022 (The Trevor Project)

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READ

• The Ultimate LGBTQIA+ Pride Book List (Penguin Random House)
• Poetry Collections by Queer Authors (Penguin Random House)
• For Pride Month, Eight Stories About Queer Power and Defiance (NYTimes)
• 8 Books to Celebrate Pride Month (NPR)
• 13 Book Recommendations Celebrating Pride Month (the Cut)
• Top 10 Most Banned and Challenged Books of 2021 (book riot)

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EDUCATE

• Pride Project 2020: A Brief History by Shannon & Jason
• 6 Ways to Learn About Stonewall Using the New York Times
• Stonewall: A Riot That Changed Millions of Lives (BBC)
• The History of the Aids Memorial Quilt
• The National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
• Unheard Voices: Stories of LGBT History
• PFLAG Academy Online

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ADVOCATE

• LGBT-INCLUSIVE RSHE: Putting it into Practice, A Guide for Schools (via Stonewall.org)
• United Against Hate® – Fighting Back on State Legislative Attacks On LGBTQ+ People
• A Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Youth
• How to Support LGBTQ+ Youth in Texas & Florida (Orgs + Script)
• Voices for Trans Equality (via National Center for Transgender Equality)

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ONLINE SAFETY

We found the following resource to be incredibly thoughtful, sharing valuable tips for online safety and support. Click on the image below to learn more.

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