Remember Bernie Sanders’ now-famous mittens from inauguration day? Turns out a queer school teacher from Vermont is behind them. And now she’s using her newfound fame to raise money for summer camp for LGBT youth.
With the Bernie Sanders' mitten meme growing popular each day, Camp Outright came up with a way to earn money for LGBT youth to attend camp.
Perhaps one of the reasons why the meme is so popular is because rather than wear formal attire, Sanders wore a parka and a large pair of fluffy mittens.
Sanders reacted to the memes by defending his choice of clothing: "In Vermont we dress warm. We know something about the cold, and we're not so concerned about good fashion. We want to keep warm, and that's what I did [on that day]," he told CBS 8.
Another reason why the mittens went viral is because of the queer teacher who created them in the first place: Jen Ellis.
Ellis admitted to The Advocate that she gave Sanders the mittens when he lost the election to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“I was just sad because even though I like Hillary, I’m also super pro-Bernie, and as a public school teacher, I can see every day how families are struggling. People are just trying to make ends meet and they need things like student loan forgiveness and free education and a lot of the things that Bernie is fighting for,” Ellis told The Advocate. “I sent him these mittens kind of as a shout-out to who he is, and I put a note in that said something to the effect of ‘I hope you run again.’”
Camp Outright is a place for LGBT youth to find a sense of belonging since they face rejection and isolation worldwide, therefore they are always looking for ways to make the youth feel like they belong, according to the press release.
The organization also provides other programs such as Friday Night Group, which is a support group for self-identified queer, trans, and questioning youth ages 13-22, and another social group for kids under 13 who their parents/caregivers can join as well.
By using the mittens to her advantage, Ellis helped raise nearly $20,000 by people from across the country in just six days, according to the press release.
On Jan. 29, Outright held an auction with John Canning being the top bidder for mittens at $7,650. Being a longtime supporter of Outright, he donated the mittens back, causing a second bidder to win them and raising a total of $14,850 that day, according to the press release.
Because of the success of the auction, Canning came up with a challenge that if Outright could raise an additional $10,000 by Feb. 5, Physician’s Computer Company will match those gifts dollar for dollar.
To help support LGBT youth attend camp, you can donate to Mitten Magic Continues on the Outright website.
In the wake of the pandemic, the camp will be held virtually this year.
