If you’ve been watching award show performances and movie premieres, seen your favorite singers’ social media or kept up with fashion-related news, you have probably seen the phrase “Protect the Dolls.”
Some might be familiar while others may have no idea what the slogan means. The reality is; the statement is much more powerful than one may assume at first glance. So, what is “Protect the Dolls,” and why do we need to protect them, anyway?
There’s two important things to know about the “Protect the Dolls” slogan. The first is that it is meant to show support for transgender women and gender nonconforming individuals who choose to present themselves in a feminine way. It is — and always has been — a call to action to protect these people who are so often targeted just for wanting to live their lives in the way that is most honest and true to their identities.
Some transgender women and feminine-presenting individuals don’t claim the “doll” label because it tends to have hyperfeminine connotations, but overall, the term is meant to be positive, complimentary and affectionate.
The best thing to keep in mind when using this term is that it can be affirming when referring to transgender women and feminine-presenting individuals as a group, but that not every individual may want to be called a “doll.”
Second, the term “dolls” is not new. While there may not be a clear consensus on the first usage of the term, it has been used for decades and according to an article from Them, likely originates in the ballroom scene of the LGBTQ+ community in the 1980s.
Of course, the meaning has evolved over time and is no longer specific to just the ballroom scene. What is important to note, however, is that like much of the slang that comes from the LGBTQ+ community, specifically from the ballroom scene, people of color coined the term “dolls.”
So why has this term suddenly become so apparent in pop culture? In Feb. 2025, at his fall/winter 2025 fashion show during London Fashion Week, designer Conner Ives came onto the runway wearing a white, 100% cotton T-shirt with the “Protect the Dolls” slogan on it.
According to an interview from The New York Times, the shirt was a last-minute design the night before the show that took around three minutes to make. It was meant to express his desire to protect his transgender friends, considering growing anti-trans sentiments in the U.S and U.K.
The shirt quickly went viral and orders poured in. Ives’s website shares on the shirt’s product page that all proceeds go towards ‘Trans Lifeline,’ a U.S.-based nonprofit led by transgender individuals that focuses on offering emotional and financial support to other trans individuals. As of April 2025, Ives raised approximately $252,600 from T-shirt sales alone.
The final, and arguably most important question surrounding this slogan is; why do the dolls need “protecting?” If you have been paying attention to U.S politics lately, there’s no question that anti-trans ideas are growing rapidly within the government and the country as a whole.
According to a myriad of sources, including the Trans Legislation Tracker, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and ABC News, anti-trans laws are being suggested and passed across the nation, violence and crime against trans and gender nonconforming individuals has increased in recent years and the general lack of care from people in power is astounding. It is more important now than ever to stand and protect not only the “dolls,” but the entire transgender and gender-nonconforming community.
No person deserves to live in fear and be targeted simply for existing and being themselves. We need to keep in mind that this is not just a trendy shirt, but rather a call to action and a clear stance in support of the “dolls” around us.
