Americans Are Wearing Safety Pins to Send a Powerful Message After the Election

It’s been a while since we’ve seen safety pins festooning our streetwear. The ‘90s grunge staple was once a proud punk statement—the perfect DGAF accessory. Now the safety pin is back in a super meaningful way that’s beyond just making a fashion statement.

In response to the incredibly disappointing display of racism, sexism, and bigotry we’ve seen spreading across social media and IRL since Republican nominee Donald Trump became president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, people are pinning safety pins to their clothing as both a show of solidarity and a symbol that they stand against such behavior—a “safe” person to approach in the face of hate speech or violence, if you will.

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In the U.S. Senate, the future is female:

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The idea is borrowed from our post-Brexit peers across the pond. Britons began bringing back the punk accessory in the face of similar displays of post-election violence and hate speech in recent months. According to the Twitter user who started the trend, pinning up is all about taking a stand “against the sort of nationalistic, racist violence we’ve been seeing.” Pretty punk when you think about it.

https://twitter.com/cheeahs/status/747164751583674368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The resurgence represents sort of a phoenix moment for the safety pin—from its roots as an anti-establishment, counterculture accessory, the safety pin’s latest iteration is all about standing together. And delivering a big F you to those using Trump’s presidency as permission to discriminate against women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and people of color.

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