'Gay' T-shirts spark vandalism, threats at area American Apparel stores
By: Elinor Flynn
Examiner Staff Writer
July 24, 2009
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Shirts advocating the legalization of gay marriage sparked vandalism and violent threats this week at two American Apparel clothing stores in the Washington area.
When manager Kassandra Powell arrived at the American Apparel in Silver Spring on Monday morning, she found one of the windows shattered -- in front of a "Legalize Gay" T-shirt on display.
Nothing was stolen from the store, but Powell told another manager that she suspected the attack was in reaction to the shirts.
On Tuesday morning, there were threats of more trouble, this time at the chain's Georgetown location.
American Apparel's M Street store received a call from an angry man demanding that the "Legalize Gay" shirt be removed from the window or the window would be broken.
Despite the threats, both stores continued displaying the shirts. American Apparel posted a statement on its Web site Tuesday afternoon addressing the attacks and reaffirming its commitment to "speaking out on an issue that is important to this company."
The threats intensified Wednesday with a call to the manager on duty at the Silver Spring store.
"He asked why the shirt was still on the mannequin and told me that I should be very careful for what I did because 'bad things could happen to me,' " the manager wrote in an e-mail to the company's fashion media director, Jonny Szymanski, who shared it with The Examiner.
Police are investigating.
Szymanski said he was puzzled by the sudden outrage over shirts that have been in stores across the country since late January.
"It's so weird. We haven't gotten threats in any other city," he said. "Most people support it."
Company spokesman Ryan Holiday said American Apparel would not be deterred in its support for gay rights. In fact, every store in the D.C. area has been asked to display a "Legalize Gay" shirt.
"We're not worried about losing windows, but we do want to make sure our employees are safe," he said. "We're taking this seriously and at the same time not backing down from it."
