A self-described transgender graphic designer made national headlines this June when a number of her designs were used in Target’s controversial pride collection. One design found on the London-based designer’s own online apparel shop has the message: “Satan respects pronouns,” encircling a goat head.
The designer, whose shirts feature phrases like “astrology made me queer” and whose UFO-shaped pin says “no gender no problem,” doesn’t claim on her site to be a Satanist per se. Instead, “Erik” says, “There’s something magical about the unknown, the frightening, and the mystical which is why I so frequently feature these themes in my art.”
Erik’s work isn’t the only pride-adjacent satanically inspired activity to feature in pop culture recently. The brand Nair, which supports pride as evidenced by its Instagram posts, ran an audacious “worship yourself” ad campaign that harks back to the “father of modern Satanism’s” motto, “Hail Satan! Hail thyself.”
At the 2023 Grammy award show, self-proclaimed “nonbinary” singer Sam Smith and transgender Kim Petras’ performance of their hit single “Unholy” included blatant satanic imagery.
Smith and Petras don’t publicly identify as Satanists, but many LGBT members and “pride” proponents do. A simple search of “Satanist” among Twitter accounts brings up countless results that include rainbow flags and gender tags such as “nonbinary” and “she-they.”
Lucien Greaves, cofounder of the Satanic Temple, says most members of the Temple are LGBT folks who consider themselves rejected by orthodox churches and other such religious establishments. Greaves told Out.com, “We will always
