Dominique Morgan the first Black trans woman to sit on GLSEN’s national board, appears in the Apple Watch Pride Edition campaign. (Apple)
Apple has launched a new Pride Edition of the iconic Apple Watch, with a band that features the colours of the inclusive flag.
The Apple Watch Pride Edition 2021 incorporates black and brown stripes and the transgender flag colours for the first time ever.
It launched on 17 May to coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT) and is available from the Apple website.
The bespoke rainbow-inspired strap is priced at £99, while customers can also get the watch in silver with the strap from £429.
This article contains affiliate links, PinkNews may earn revenue if you click through and purchase products through the links.
The initiative was first launched by Apple in 2016 to support LGBT+ causes across the US and for 2021 they wanted to better represent the breadth of the community.
The black and brown stripes symbolise Black and Latinx communities, while the light blue, pink and white stripes represent transgender and non-binary individuals.
Apple will donate proceeds to International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (IGLA), The Trevor Project, and LGBT+ youth charity GLSEN, a non-profit that works to ensure education is safe and affirming for all students across the US.
Dominique Morgan, the first Black trans woman and formerly incarcerated person to sit on GLSEN’s national board told Attitude: “These sort of relationships partnerships are powerful in ways that you can’t even explain.
“When you look at corporations like Apple that have a sort of power and influence to open hearts and minds to bring new information new ideas to people, it’s so important for those entities to understand the experiences of the most oppressed in our society.
“Looking at the work we’re doing with GLSEN it’s very clear that young people in our society are being faced with barriers to leading their own lives and engaging in the work of building their own futures.”
She also discusses Apple’s use of the inclusive Pride flag for the first time ever saying: “As someone who is 39 years-old – I came out when I was 13 – I’ve witnessed in my lifetime the evolution of the colours of the [Pride] flag.
“Our queer community is being identified and recognized [and] I think it’s just so important for everyone to see themselves.
“A colour theme is something simple, but the beautiful part about something being simple is that it’s an easy answer so seeing colours that represent Black, Brown, trans and non-conforming communities.
“[It] makes makes me stand up taller and makes my head look up higher.”
Other charities being supported by Apple include Encircle, Equality North Carolina, Equality Texas, Gender Spectrum, Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG National, the National Center for Transgender Equality, SMYAL, as well as ILGA World internationally.
To coincide with the launch Apple is also releasing a new matching animated Pride Woven watch face which can be downloaded for free on your iPhone.
As mentioned above, the braided solo loop strap is priced at £99, while the Apple Watch Pride Edition with the strap is priced from £429. They’re both available from the Apple website.
