I recently came across something called “Protect the Dolls” and wondered what on earth it’s about. The Guardian explains it here.
Basically, a guy I had never heard of called Conner Ives designed a t-shirt proclaiming “Protect the Dolls” and wore it to London Fashion Week in February. Ives is evidently an American fashion designer raised in New York and living in London. This is him wearing his t-shirt in February: Apparently, the word “doll” is used as a term of endearment for men who call themselves women (“transgender women”) and Ives is a fan of such men.
Anyway, once the t-shirt started getting so much hype, Conner Ives found himself getting increasing orders for it, so he made it available for pre-order and increased supply. According to his website:
The Protect the Dolls t-shirt was worn by Conner in the finale of our AW 2025 show. After the groundswell of interest in the t-shirt, we have decided to make it available for pre-order. All proceeds from the sale of this t-shirt will be donated directly to Trans Lifeline, a trans-lead US- based charity that delivers life-saving services to those who need them most. The hotline connects trans people to a wider community, offering support and resources they need to survive and thrive. Given the US Federal government's current hostility towards trans people, support like this is needed now more than ever.
T-shirts will ship from our London studio in 4-8 weeks. You will receive a email notification when your purchase has been dispatched. The t-shirt is made of a 100% organic cotton, and is printed in the UK. The “Trans Lifeline” is a “grassroots hotline and microgrants 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.” The main page of its website features someone who is very obviously a man, wearing red nail polish.
Elle magazine interviewed a man named Raquel Willis about the matter and he said, “When I think of ‘Protect the Dolls,’ I’m thinking of the high rates of murder and violence in Black and brown trans communities, and particularly to Black and brown trans women, and I’m thinking of high rates of suicidality. Taglines and slogans are great, but they have to lead people to a deeper political education. Do people actually know how to protect the dolls?”
Willis is the co-founder of something called the Gender Liberation Movement, and last December, he joined some of his fellow men in a women’s bathroom at the US Capitol to protest the House Speaker’s decision to maintain single-sex bathrooms. So that’s what “Protect the Dolls” is about—protecting men who call themselves women and invade female-only spaces (from evil, nasty TERFs, I guess). Or, as one of my UK TERF buddies said on X yesterday:
