We’re thrilled to launch our first ever HayCo Pride T-shirt campaign—featuring a possum, a trans flag, and a message that’s close to our hearts:
“You don’t have to carry it alone.”
This design is for the soft-hearted, tender queers of the holler. The ones holding each other up when the world gets heavy. The ones who show up with food, rides, hugs, or just quiet presence. The ones who know that even in hard times, community care is real, and it’s powerful.
Why We’re Fundraising
HayCo Pride has grown fast in the last year—and we’re proud of what we’ve built together. From mutual aid to rural pride events to standing up for trans youth in Haywood County and beyond, we’ve made it clear: queer folks belong here, and we’re not going anywhere.
But we need your help to keep going.
We’re raising funds to cover rent for our office and organizing space—a humble but essential home base for our work in Western North Carolina. This space allows us to:
- Distribute mutual aid supplies to those in need
- Offer a safe and affirming place for meetings and community gatherings
- Plan actions, teach-ins, and joyful queer celebrations
- Simply be visible in a region that too often tries to erase us
Your purchase directly supports that work.
About the Design
This T-shirt features an illustrated possum holding a trans flag with the phrase “You don’t have to carry it alone.” Possums are scrappy, sweet, and deeply misunderstood—just like a lot of us. We chose this design to represent the tender strength of our queer community: always adapting, always surviving, and always showing up for each other.
The shirts are soft, high-quality, and come in a range of sizes and styles. Whether you’re rocking yours at a local protest, a potluck, or just around town—you’re helping us make sure no one in our community has to do this work alone.
How to Support
You can grab your shirt (or hoodie, or tank!) through our Bonfire campaign here:
👉 https://www.bonfire.com/you-dont-have-to-carry-it-alone/
Even if you can’t buy a shirt, sharing the campaign and spreading the word helps us more than you know.
Thank you for being part of our queer Appalachian family.
Together, we’re building a future rooted in care, joy, and collective liberation.
Stay scrappy,
💖 The HayCo Pride Crew