Todrick Hall & Skittles Donate to Black Trans Organization

This June, Skittles gave up its signature rainbow by removing the iconic branding to celebrate the LGBTQ community. But, the brand’s LGBTQ advocacy extends beyond the month of June. Coming on the heels of the brand releasing its limited-edition Skittles Pride Packs and donating $100,000 from pack sales to GLAAD, the world’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy group, Skittles has partnered with Todrick Hall to donate $100,000 to the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.

The donation will support the group’s work to improve the lived experience of transgender people, including its Black Trans COVID-19 Community Response Fund initiative that benefits transgender families impacted by the Coronavirus in the U.S.

Established in 2011, the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition is the only national organization led by Black, trans people to collectively address the inequities faced in the Black, transgender, human experience.

BTAC advocates ending poverty, discrimination in all forms, and its human inequities faced in health, employment, housing, and education that are rooted in systemic racism to improve the lived experience of transgender people. The organization’s work is based in peace-building, community education, public policy initiatives, empowerment programs, and direct services

“Pride this year has been unlike any I’ve experienced before. With the pandemic putting a stop to all in-person celebrations, and the events that have sparked much-needed conversations around racial equity and support for Black members of the LGBTQ+ community, it may be the most important Pride in my lifetime,” says Todrick Hall.

“It means a lot to me to be partnering with Skittles to make this donation to the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, an organization from my home state of Texas that is doing important work helping to uplift some of the most marginalized and underrepresented voices in the LGBTQ+ community during this critical time.”

“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, BTAC is working to minimize the heightened suffering of so many Black, trans people as an already marginalized community,” says Carter Brown, National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition executive director.

Skittles Pride Packs are part of the brand’s “Give the Rainbow” campaign, which has previously run in Canada, Germany, and the U.K. Although the Pride Packs don’t feature the usual, vibrant colors fans are accustomed to, the gray packaging and gray candies still feature the original, five fruity flavors of strawberry, orange, grape, green apple, and lemon. The limited-edition packs are available for purchase at select retailers nationwide.