The discriminating laws were affecting tens of thousands of people who wanted to have their partnerships fully recognized by the state despite sexual orientation. Unfortunately, for the public and political leaders this problem was invisible, as they falsely thought that registered couples enjoy the same rights as traditional marriage.

Our goal was to show the political leaders what it feels like to be gay and have marriage out of your reach and persuade them to raise their hand for equality during a crucial vote in the House of Parliament after years of inequality.

The biggest issue in the campaign that had to persuade politicians to vote for marriage equality was that the public and the legislators thought that registered partnership and marriage is mostly the same thing. But the differences were huge for many people in their daily lives.

That is why we took the symbol of marriage – a ring – and changed it to represent the barrier.

The ring looks just like any other wedding ring until you want to put it on... because you cannot. The transparent sapphire glass inside, representing the barriers Czech same-sex couples face every day, doesn’t let you.

This demonstrated the difference – the symbol of partnership that works for everyone at first glance, until you find out that the barrier makes it incomplete, useless.

To engage politicians in our cause, we shared a survey with them to demonstrate that their constituents (in fact, 83% of the public) support marriage equality before directly approaching them.

The Unwearable Ring first gained visibility through influencer channels and national TV and radio shows, where real-life gay couples described their struggle, thereby making the topic trend in the days leading up to the vote.

When it was evident that Czechs support voting for equality, we targeted the politicians, knowing all the parties wanted to show they represent the will of voters. We selected the leaders and prominent figures that could sway opinion of their whole party.

When the first political leader endorsed the Unwearable Ring before the big vote, others had to keep up. The snowball effect made more politicians share the campaign and make sure everyone was aware of the cause before the closely-watched vote.

The Unwearable Ring was made in collaboration with a professional jewelry studio in the amount of 10 pieces. All of them are made of 14k gold in three different color versions: yellow, white, and rose gold. Transparent barrier is made of the sapphire glass, the most transparent and solid jewelry glass you can get with a purity of 99.99%, providing exceptional durability.

To pay respect to gay community and make the campaign more connected to their rights, we have used the gentle rainbow reflection of the glass in our key visuals and campaign materials.

All the rings were delivered in hand-made satin boxes with The Unwearable Ring branding made by elegant rainbow foil.

In just one week, we have reached almost 70% of the population and sparked a national conversation. The ring got endorsed on the social media by the most influential leaders of governing political parties, including Markéta Pekarová Adamová, the Chairwoman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.

We have gained more than 50 non-paid major media outputs, thousands of supportive comments and most importantly – we have changed the law to get more rights for same-sex couples in our country, including the most wanted one: right to adopt a stepchild. The Unwearable Ring was introduced in the most watched morning show and discussed on numerous local radio stations, including the most popular ones.