This shirt is an homage to the phrasing of one of my all time favourite protest signs (Not Gay as in Happy, But Queer as in Fuck You) and a tribute to how Punk Rock Flea Markets and local punk scenes make me feel.
I was talking to my dad last year about PRFMs and how they were pretty much the best markets going for me these days, and how they feel like how markets felt when I first got into them in the late 2000s/early 2010s. He kind of bristled at the word Punk being in the name. He was born in 1950 and I guess was left with a 70s impression of Punk as being scary and violent. But that's not my experience of Punk.
My first experience with punk was the mainstream breakout in the 1990s. Going to punk shows in high school I was scared and intimidated, but that was how I felt doing most things at the time. Mosh pits were scary, but then I saw that when kids fell down, someone was always there to help them get back up. I found out about anti-racist skinheads, and bought ARA patches, and learned about stuff like Food Not Bombs, and how Punk was a community that cared for the people within it.
As I got older I'd go to see a show in another city and see that even though all the faces are different, the same ethos is there. The last time I was in Montreal, we caught a Saturday matinee hardcore show at Turbo Haus thanks to a guy we'd met the night before giving us the heads up about it. I nearly cried after the show, seeing how hard everyone came together at 3 in the afternoon.
So to me Punk will never be just about the music, or the fashion, it will always be about the people around it. And Punk Rock Flea Markets have become my favourite markets to sell at. Travelling to other cities, seeing the people I've met at other markets, and seeing people I don't know at all, but instantly feel like I have a rapport with, because I know we've got some things in common, like a love of community, and sense of empathy, and a love of DIY.