Everyone is Awesome is a Lego set released in 2021. The Lego product is the first designed to represent the LGBTQIA+ community. It was designed by Matthew Ashton and is themed to represent a pride flag and transgender pride flag, and black and brown colors to represent LGBT people of color. [1] [2]
The set has 346 pieces. [3] It comes with 11 minifigures in colors representing pride flags. Six represent colors of the rainbow pride flag (Gilbert Baker's 1978 "classic" flag with red, orange, yellow, green, dark blue, and purple [4] ), while three (in pale blue, white, and pink) represent the transgender pride flag, and two (in black and brown) represent the diversity of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds within the queer community. [1] The black and brown stripes mirror Philadelphia's pride flag introduced in 2017. [4]
Each figure has a different hairstyle, also representing the LGBT and Lego community's diversity. [5] None of the eleven figures have specified genders, except for the purple minifigure, meant to represent a drag queen, with a "highly stylized beehive wig". [1]
The Lego set measures about 10 cm × 13 cm (4 in × 5 in); it is designed with a base and back wall, to fit on a shelf or windowsill. [5]
The set name is inspired by "Everything Is Awesome", a song from The Lego Movie , a feature film released in 2014. [3] The set designer, Matthew Ashton, was an executive producer for the film. [6]
The Lego Company has a short history of representing the LGBT community in sets. A build of Trafalgar Square, released in 2019, includes a tiny rainbow flag, while sets of bride and groom figurines in the BrickHeadz line were sold separately, allowing fans to purchase two brides or two grooms if they choose to. [1] The "Everyone is Awesome" set is the first set dedicated to the LGBT community in the Lego Company's 89-year history. [4] It comes at a time as the toy industry is releasing products aimed towards more inclusivity. [7]
The set was designed by vice president of design Matthew Ashton, initially for his own desk. [1] [5] Ashton, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, designed it to make his new office space reflect him. Visitors to Lego's offices noticed it enough that he was prompted to make it an official set. [1] Ashton noted that he grew up as a gay teen in the 1980s, in a daunting time when homophobia was widespread at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and that he was constantly told which toys to play with. He expressed that having a set like this in one's childhood would be a significant relief and sign of support and love. [6] [8]
The set was released June 1, 2021, in time for LGBT Pride Month for many. [3] In releasing the set, the Lego Company highlighted its employee diversity and efforts towards inclusion, as well as partnerships with LGBT organizations including Stonewall. [3]
A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of the visible light spectrum.
The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.
The bisexual flag is a pride flag representing bisexuality, bisexual individuals and the bisexual community. The pink stripe represents attraction to the same gender, while the blue stripe represents attraction to the opposite gender. The purple stripe, the resulting "overlap" of the blue and pink stripes, represents attraction to all genders, including non-binary people and those of other gender identities.
Transgender flags are used by people, organizations and communities to represent pride, diversity, rights and/or remembrance within the transgender community. Usage is similar to the original Rainbow flag but specific to the transgender community. The best-known design is a pride flag of five horizontal stripes of three colors in the order light blue, light pink, white, light pink, and light blue. There are several alternatives to this flag, and others continue to be suggested.
A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBT community. Pride in this case refers to the notion of LGBT pride. The terms LGBT flag and queer flag are often used interchangeably.
Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.
Lego Creator is a Lego theme for generic models. Creator sets have few specialized bricks to create buildings, creatures, vehicles, and robots. Some sets featured instructions for three different possible builds from the bricks included and most sets in recent years have used the 3-in-1 label. Creator is also a parent theme to Lego Icons, a Lego subtheme for adolescents and adults featuring advanced building techniques and large piece counts, mostly known for Modular Buildings and detailed vehicles. Creator also has had several other subthemes such as X-Pods and mosaics.
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBT pride and LGBT social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBT pride began in San Francisco, California, but eventually became common at LGBT rights events worldwide.
The International Bear Brotherhood Flag, also known as the bear flag, is a pride flag designed to represent the bear subculture within the LGBTQIA+ community. The colors of the flag—dark brown, orange/rust, golden yellow, tan, white, gray, and black—symbolize species of animal bears throughout the world. Though not necessarily referring to human skin color or hair color, the flag was designed with inclusion in mind. The bear culture celebrates secondary sex characteristics such as growth of body hair and facial hair, traits associated with bears.
Gilbert Baker was an American artist, designer, and activist, best known as the creator of the rainbow flag.
The pansexual flag is a pink, yellow and cyan flag, designed as a symbol for the pansexual community to increase its visibility and recognition, and distinguish itself from bisexuality.
India has a vibrant LGBTQ culture, especially in its large cities due to growing acceptance in the recent years.
"Everything Is Awesome" is a song by Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara featuring American comedy trio the Lonely Island. The theme song to the 2014 Warner Bros. Pictures film The Lego Movie, it was written by Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, and the Lonely Island. The single and pop version featured in the end credits of the movie were produced by Mark Mothersbaugh.
The Chennai Rainbow Pride March has been held by members of Tamil Nadu LGBTIQA+ communities every June since 2009. The pride march is organised under the banner Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition, which is a collective of LGBT individuals, supporters, and organizations working on human rights and healthcare for the LGBTQIA community. The Pride March occurs on the final Sunday of June every year. The Pride March is usually preceded by a month-long series of events organized by NGOs and organizations to inculcate awareness and support for the LGBTQ community, such as panel discussions, film screenings, and cultural performances. The Chennai Vaanavil Suyamariyadhai Perani a.k.a. Chennai Rainbow Self-Respect March is known for being inter-sectional in nature as it addresses issues with multiple axes such as caste, class, religion coupled with gender discrimination.
Various lesbian flags have been used to symbolise the lesbian community. Since 1999, many designs have been proposed and used. Although personal preferences exist, as well as various controversies, no design has been widely accepted by the community as the lesbian flag.
Lego Icons is a series of Lego construction toys aimed at a demographic of adolescents and adults. Beginning in 2000 without an established logo or icon, Icons features models such as aircraft, sculptures, and world buildings, selling as exclusives with numerous specialized elements and complex building techniques. Icons is considered a challenge to both the target audience and Lego designers. All Icons sets are classified into specified sub-themes; however, the entirety of Icons is classified as a sub-theme of Lego Creator.
Daniel Quasar is an American artist and graphic designer, known for their design of the Progress Pride flag, a variation of the rainbow pride flag that incorporates additional colors to explicitly represent trans people and LGBTQ+ communities of color.
A straight flag or heterosexual flag is a pride flag intended to represent heterosexuality. Some straight flags represent straight pride, a conservative countermovement to gay pride. There is also the straight ally flag, which is intended to represent allyship by straight people with the LGBT community. Although there are many proposed straight flags, none of them enjoys broad consensus for usage today.
Various pride flags have been used to symbolize gay men. Rainbow flags have been used since 1978 to represent both gay men and, subsequently, the LGBT community as a whole. Since the 2010s, various designs have been proposed to specifically represent the gay male community.
