Through Sunday, May 7, the Westport Pride Group and the WPS Pride Coalition have a fundraiser selling two different t-shirts in preparation of the upcoming National LGBTQ+ Pride month, June, and commemoration of the Stonewall riots. 

Kayla Iannetta, a science teacher at Staples, is one of the Staples Pride club Co-advisors and the District Pride Chair, and is involved in Pride events, proceedings and fundraisers like this one. 

“We have no particular goal except to give people options for Pride wear this season,” Iannetta said. “[This] year in particular, the design is meant to commemorate the Stonewall Riots which sparked the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.” 

Though there is no monetary goal for the two organizations, Westport Pride and the WPS Pride Coalition will split the raised funds. The funds they do raise will go to maintaining various events and education revolving around the LGBTQ+ community. Together, they print pamphlets for the school, community and events, and purchase items for their celebrations. 

The two different merchandise options can be found at https://shop.nicethreadsllc.com/westport-pride/. They are both t-shirts with two different available designs. 

“The [first] design is meant to have a retro feel as if it could be from the late 60s [to] early 70s when the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement exploded onto the scene. The back has a little dedication to Stonewall,” Iannetta said. “The other was designed by a [trans-gender] student who helped get ‘You Be You Day’ off the ground at the elementary schools. Both have incredible meaning.”