The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) works to end discrimination against all gay people. The goal for this campaign was simple - get people to stop using the word 'gay' to describe things negatively. After all, things can't be gay - only people can. To bring attention to this point, the CCGSD collected the donated hair of over 100 gay people, and used it to create the The Gay Sweater - the world's first 100% gay object.

The Gay Sweater launched during Toronto Fashion Week, and immediately sparked a valuable conversation about the issue on social media and in the news media. This conversation was initiated with a deep PR plan, starting with outreach to news media outlets in Canada, the United States and the UK.

This plan also involved outreach to specific influencers in social media, to proliferate the idea there. The Gay Sweater became the subject of intense media interest, resulting in over 165 million impressions and enormous earned media value for the charity. This idea is a PR campaign at its core.

All the tactics to proliferate the message of the Gay Sweater hinged on smart PR planning and execution. This meant identifying and engaging valuable influencers to spread the story. It meant releases, outreach and pitches to mainstream news and media, in order to put the project and its message in the public eye. And it meant aligning with smart, simple messaging that could be delivered in print, online and broadcast news interviews.

Gay people donated their hair, which was then used to knit the Gay Sweater - and the entire process was captured on film. Our initial efforts were focused on local media by launching the Gay Sweater during Toronto Fashion Week, when we knew media interest would be strong. #thegaysweater trended on Twitter immediately, and the film about the project began to attract serious attention.

As public awareness grew among the Canadian news media – with several features in local and national broadcast, print and online outlets – we expanded our reach into the UK and US, where real-time news around controversial anti-LGBT legislation allowed us to connect to a wider conversation around gay issues. Indeed, this resulted in news coverage around the world. In social media, we actively engaged influencers both inside and outside of the gay community to spread the word about the project.

The Gay Sweater was magnificent.

The very idea of making an object out of gay human hairwas radical and controversial. But this was absolutely necessary to give the item the power to provoke important conversations around what it is to be gay, and how important it is not to misuse that term.

Jer Dias, the Director of the CCGSD, was interviewed for national and local radio, television, print and online news outlets, allowing him to bring attention to the organization and its efforts. It has received 165 million+ impressions worldwide, and generated over $1 million in earned media value. As Jer put it, 'The Gay Sweater got us more attention in three days than in the previous ten years'.

The Gay Sweater continues to travel to schools across Canada, where kids are touching it, wearing it, and talking about it - and learning how to use 'gay' the right way.