Clothing Catalogue Features Gay Couple

Clothing company J. Crew featured a gay employee and his same-sex life partner in a recent catalogue, drawing praise from GLBT equality advocates.

The May catalogue from J. Crew boasted pictures of the company's staff putting their money where their fashions were and modeling that company's wares themselves. Among the photos of the company's multi-racial employees and their equally diverse families was one of a gay designer and his significant other.

The couple were presented as matter-of-factly as any other J. Crew employee together with family, with the photo's caption reading, "Our designer Somsack and his boyfriend, Micah," reported ABC News Radio in a May 2 article.

"Nothing is unintentional in this kind of marketing," Cathy Renna, the head of LGBT-focused company Renna Communications, said. "Bravo to J. Crew." Renna called the image "a giant step forward," the article noted.

"As an activist, it's great to see a diversity of images and to see gay families represented in more regular media," Renna added.

The article recalled that in April, the company's president, Jenna Lyons, appeared with her son Beckett in an online newsletter. Lyons was shown painting Beckett's toenails, prompting anti-gay conservatives to protest that she risked "turning" the boy gay or trans.

There is no medical evidence to indicate that human sexuality can be shaped by either defying or conforming to social gender norms. Similarly, transgender individuals say that their sexual identity is innate, and is not influenced by external factors.

But the image of Lyons painting her son's toenails--and painting them pink, no less--triggered accusations from the anti-gay set that the company was engaging in "liberal, transgendered identity politics," ABC News noted.

Lyons approached the matter with a sense of fun.

"Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink," that image was captioned. "Toenail painting is way more fun in neon."

The flap is reminiscent of a debate that sprang up last year around a mother acceding to her young son's request to dress up as a female character in a popular animated TV series for a Halloween party.

In an article posted Nov. 2, 2010, at Nerdy Apple Bottom, "Cop's Wife," a Missouri resident, detailed how her son wanted to go to the Halloween party at his church preschool dressed as Daphne Blake, the orange-haired young woman from a well-heeled family who is a character in the long-running "Scooby Doo" cartoon series. Knowing that her son is a fan of the program--and noting that he had dressed as the title character, Scooby Doo, a dog, last year--"Cop's Wife" bought the costume, which consisted of pink and purple garments and an orange wig.

"Cop's Wife" observed, "If my daughter had dressed as Batman, no one would have thought twice about it. No one." But the sight of her son dressed as a female character drew sharp critiques from several other mothers at the party.

"Two mothers went wide-eyed and made faces as if they smelled decomp," "Cop's Wife" recounted. "And I realize that my son is seeing the same thing I am. So I say, 'Doesn't he look great?' And Mom A says in disgust, 'Did he ask to be that?!' "

The account went on to detail the exchanges that followed among several of the mothers present, with "Cop's Wife" noting, "The only people that seem to have a problem with it is their mothers."

"Cop's Wife" did have a defender among the group. "Another mom pointed out that high schools often have Spirit Days where girls dress like boys and vice versa," she wrote. "I mentioned Powderpuff Games where football players dress like cheerleaders and vice versa." Added "Cop's Wife," "But here's the point, it is none of your damn business. If you think that me allowing my son to be a female character for Halloween is somehow going to 'make' him gay then you are an idiot. Firstly, what a ridiculous concept. Secondly, if my son is gay, OK. I will love him no less. Thirdly, I am not worried that your son will grow up to be an actual ninja so back off."

Just prior to the story gaining brief prominence in the national media, the Associated Press published an account of a young boy who liked to wear "sparkly" and brightly colored clothing to school generated controversy. A family in Seattle allowed their son, Dyson, to dress as he pleased, even though the boy's choices challenged gender stereotypes. His mother, Cheryl, wrote and published an account of her son's mode of self-expression in a cool called "My Princess Boy."

The book was meant to raise awareness and acceptance, but Dyson's parents became the targets of conservative bloggers who bashed them for not putting their feet down and refusing to allow Dyson to dress as he pleased, the AP reported.

"I mean it's just crazy," was the response of blogger Lashaun Turner, who was outraged to learn that Dyson had begun expressing his desire to wear bright clothing and jewelry when he was only two years old.

"Your 2-year-old is picking out pink colors and wanting to wear pink dresses and so therefore you start buying him dresses?" continued Turner. "I mean a 2-year-old has not a clue as to whether they're boy, girl, fruit, vegetable or a rock."

Transgender individuals disagree. Accounts from trans people themselves often note that a definite and unswerving sense of gender identity emerges at a very young age.

A more accepting tone and a palette reflecting a wider range of humanity may be one more tool for companies still struggling with the economic crash to maximize the appeal of their products. The coveted younger demographic are far more accepting of GLBT individuals and causes in a range of issues, from marriage equality to open military service by gay and lesbian patriots.

"More American companies recognize the consumer buying power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual community," ABC News reported. "According to a January 2007 report, The Gay and Lesbian Market, in the U.S. from the market research firm Packaged Facts, their spending was expected to exceed $835 billion this year."