Liverpool brand reclaims childhood homophobic slurs for fashion range – Prolific North

Bum Boy Merch, a Liverpool-based clothing company, has launched a new apparel range that flips homophobic childhood slurs on their head.

The range, made up of tshirts, joggers and accessories, aims to take the words that people have used to hurt the LGBTQ+ community and “transform them into a celebration of energy, vibrancy, positivity and pride.”

Bum Boy Merch will be on sale online across June to August, coinciding with Pride month, and prices start at £16. All profits will go to Homotopia, the home of queer art and activism, advocating for LGBTQIA safety and queer joy.

Founder Richard Pay said: “As a child your sense of self is unapologetic, but sadly as you get older those feelings can fade”.

Pay recalls the slurs he heard in the playground that made him want to hide away. “They’d say ‘You’re a bum boy, you’re a fruit, you’re a fairy, you’re a pillow biter’. And sadly it worked. I didn’t embrace my LGBTQ+ identity until I was 30 years old. Words can hold so much power over an individual.”

While some of these slurs have been left in the past, Bum Boy has turned each of them into an

opportunity to take back power. Each illustrative design on the clothing brings character to the

would-be slurs. From the burly Fairy, to the cheeky Pillow Biter, to the proud Bum Boy.

Bum Boy’s mission is to “face adversity with positivity” because “fighting fire with fire just leads to bigger fires. This is our way of taking control in a way that’s pure joy.”

The merch line isn’t just for people within the LGBTQ+ community, it also caters to allies. Rich continued: “We don’t just want to preach to the choir, we want to make space for the people who want to truly understand our experiences and stand with us.”

To extend this invitation Bum Boy enlisted the help of Luke McConkey, an illustrator and LGBTQ+ ally: “I’ve forever considered myself an ally to the LGBTQ+ community and always wanted to support people with my artwork. I think it’s super important as a non-member of the community to show others that we can get involved as a wider community and help out,” he said.

Bum Boy Merch has been developed by MOKSi Creative, an LGBTQ+ owned brand studio based in Liverpool that dedicates time to at least one project in support of the LBGTQ+ community each year.