Pride - love is love
LOVE IS LOVE
PRIDE 2023
"Pride is something everyone shares. Everyone has a duty to address hatred and violence against minorities, because Pride is more than just a sexual or gender minority issue." This is how our customer perfectly summed up why Pride is everyone's business.
Love means something to each of us. Love can be deep connection, affection, compassion, care, support or acceptance. However, one thing is certain, love knows no boundaries. At Toive, it is self-evident that love belongs to everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality and language. This is why we feel it is important to also be a part of promoting the rights and equality of people belonging to sexual and gender minorities on a concrete level.
THERE IS ALWAYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
The idea of making the Pride collection came from our values and the idea that love is a universal experience that unites us. Above all, it should be everyone's right. With this thought in mind, we designed a collection of two t-shirts. The second t-shirt in the collection has an embroidered rainbow flag on the chest, which has served as the symbol of sexual and gender minorities for several decades. In the second t-shirt of the collection, the finger alphabet conveys the campaign's message "love is love".
In the meantime, we have to point out that we didn't think the matter through. Although we thought that using the finger alphabet would make the message even more universal, we did not contact people from this minority and ask for their thoughts. From this we would probably have learned that if a language is to be used, a member of the minority should also be involved in its planning. We raise our hand to indicate a mistake - we should have understood this. We wondered how we could advance the cause of this minority, now that we are wiser? We could no longer change the production. So we did what we could: we tried to share information about the topic, we delved even deeper into the topic ourselves and added information up to the product pages. We also posted about it on social media, and we received one really comforting message: "Every mistake is an opportunity to learn. At that point, if there is no room to make mistakes, there is also no room to learn and grow." . So thanks for all the messages, we're learning a lot. <3
For this reason, we feel it is important to also share information about the sign language community in connection with this campaign. Finnish sign language is one of Finland's minority languages, and both Finnish and Finnish-Swedish sign languages are used in Finland. There are about 14,000 sign language people in Finland, of which about 5,500 use sign language as their mother tongue.
Despite the fact that the position of the deaf has improved, the equality work is not finished for this minority either. You can find out more about the subject, e.g. From the website of the Association of the Deaf . Kuurojen liitto ry is a central union, which includes 36 member associations from all over Finland. Their task is to guarantee the realization of human rights and equal opportunities for the deaf. On the website you will find a lot of information, instructions and articles about current issues. The association also actively organizes events and offers support and advice for different situations.
WE DONATE TO EQUALITY
Changing the world requires actions and cooperation. Even when planning the campaign, it was obvious to us that it must include a concrete donation. In our opinion, companies have a responsibility to promote their own values and, if possible, donate to various parties. We are pleased to inform you that we are Helsinki Pride 2023 Small Business Partners. In addition, we donate 10% of the sales of our Pride collection to the activities of the Helsinki Pride association. Let's work together to create a fair, equal and equal world for everyone. Each of us has the right to love and be loved regardless of gender, sexuality, language and background. Love wins <3
