Adam’s Nest
Although its brick-and-mortar site in P-Town is open only “during the season,” Adam’s Nest maintains an online store year-round. If it’s an HIV- or LGBTQ-related item you’re looking for, Adam’s Nest probably has it. Baseball caps, pins, t-shirts, all can be had in their shop and online. Firmly believing in the importance of giving back to the community, a portion of the sale of each item is earmarked for a specific charity. The many organizations that Adam’s Nest has supported include the ACLU, the Ali Forney Center, the Audre Lorde Project, Gays Against Guns (I love their “Shoot Loads Not Guns” t-shirt!), SAGE, Planned Parenthood and the Rainbow Railroad.
This year, in collaboration with THE GAY RUB (a project by Steven Reigns, a poet and educator, devoted to collecting rubbings from GLBTQ historical markers, signs, tombstones, cenotaphs, plaques, and monuments), Adam’s Nest offers t-shirts featuring a rub from Frank Kameny’s tombstone.
Tell Me More: Frank Kameny was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as “one of the most significant figures” in the American gay rights movement. Kameny, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, fired from his job with the U.S. Army because he was gay, launched some of the earliest public protests by gays and lesbians with a picket line at the White House on April 17, 1965. He carried a sign at that protest that read “GAY IS GOOD.” That slogan also adorns his gravesite. A rub of his tombstone graces the high-quality 100% cotton t-shirt.
How Much: The GAY IS GOOD Frank Kameny t-shirt is $30.00.
How to Order:To purchase the GAY IS GOOD t-shirt or any of Adam’s Nest’s other offerings, log on to www. https://adamsnest.com/collections/adams-nest-gives-back.
Who Benefits: Ten percent of each sale of the GAY IS GOOD tee will be donated to the ONE Archives Foundation, an independent 501 (c) (3) non-profit dedicated to telling the authentic stories of LGBTQ people, history and culture through public exhibitions, educational projects and trainings, and community outreach programs.
—Reporting by Hank Trout
Hank Trout, Senior Editor, edited Drummer, Malebox, and Folsom magazines in the early 1980s. A long-term survivor of HIV/AIDS (diagnosed in 1989), he is a forty-year resident of San Francisco, where he lives with his husband Rick. Follow him on Twitter @HankTroutWriter.