Fashion
Dan Savage’s Impeach Trump Merch Has Raised $260,000 For Charity
And now is the best time to be wearing it.
October 03 2019 9:26 AM EST
October 03 2019 5:48 AM EST
MikelleStreet
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And now is the best time to be wearing it.
Impeachment is finally happening -- well, we hope. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called to initiate impeachment proceedings just a week ago, and though there's very little that we can do to speed that process along -- if you do have any incriminating evidence against the president, I'm sure she would love to hear from you -- we can do something to show support. And that's buy some stuff for charity.
When Donald Trump was first elected, writer and Savage Love podcast host Dan Savage helped launch a merch line called ITMFA. It may seem like a random bunch of letters, but it actually stands for "Impeach The Mother Fucker Already." While that's a pretty amazing reason to buy the merch alone, the proceeds actually go to charity.
Since ITMFA launched in 2016, the merch has raised over $250,000, which they split between Planned Parenthood, American Civil Liberties Union, and the International Refugee Assistance Project, all organizations who have been adversely affected by Trump administration policies or led the resistance against them. In addition, ITMFA has done ad hoc projects like selling a limited-edition pink beanie that raised an additional $13,000 for Planned Parenthood and doing a special fundraiser for the Hispanic Federation to raise almost $5,000 for those affected by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
While sales had been slowing in 2019, Pelosi's news has ratched business back up.
"We've seen a big spike in orders recently -- for obvious reasons," Savage told Out in an email. Last week saw the biggest one day sales of the entire year. "It's been really gratifying to work on this and I've enjoyed the stories I've heard from so many people about being asked what the 'ITMFA' on their t-shirt or button stands for and then the reactions they get when they say 'IMPEACH THE MOTHERFUCKER ALREADY!'"
All in all, some 140,000 buttons have been sold, with the likes of Representative Rashida Tlaib, Stormy Daniels, Ilana Glazer, Rosie O'Donnell, and Nikki Glaser all having worn the merch at some point. One guy even wore an ITMFA shirt to the White House.
In case you were wondering, the line is very much still going, with shirts, buttons, hats, beanies, and even mugs, all on sale. Prices range from an $8 sticker to a $55 zipped hoodie. The plan is that by the end of the year -- or whenever the president is removed from office -- the site will shut down. But Savage says they'll be selling and donating funds all the way up until the last minute.
And yes, when someone asks, you are supposed to tell them exactly what the acronym means.
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Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.