2025 Pride Month T-Shirt "IYKYK." (Limited Edition)

IYKYK.

‘Signaling’ as a queer cultural practice has manifested time and time again—transcending national or cultural origin or temporal place in history. The subtle art of signaling is the marriage of seeking and survival in the face of very real threats of discrimination and persecution our community has historically faced.

Signaling has manifested in a whole myriad of ways that have ranged from deliberate choices of accessories, styling, or tattoos, to conversational topics, or even entire dialects of language. All things that have a common element of plausible deniability, or will fly under the radar for those ‘not in the know,’ but will shine like an incredible beacon for those who do. No matter the odds, we have always created ways of finding each other.

The history of queer signaling is a subject that the artist has revisited time and time again in many of their own art pieces. Each object in this wreath was chosen due to historical, artistic, or modern significance to the larger LGBTQIA2S+ community.

In short—If you know, you know; and we will always find each other.

ARTIST:
steppe

steppe is a writer and visual artist from the pacific northwest. Inspiration for them often comes from the resilience of their larger community, queer history, and the architecture, weather, and environment of their home city. They consider themselves a sort of Fellow Traveller—happy to walk alongside the people they meet, and learn everything they can. They have been drawing, writing, and painting since they were just a kid.