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'The Future Lives Queer': Surrey T-shirt company mocks city's refusal to fly Pride flag

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Surrey’s official logo has a forward-thinking phrase: “The Future Lives Here.”

But the city’s views on lifestyle are being branded backward.

Council decided a rainbow flag at city hall was a little too gay-friendly and spurned the offer.

Surrey Shirts’ take: “The Future Lives Queer.”

The company has had its share of notoriety — it even refers to itself as “the notorious Surrey Shirts clothing company” in announcing its attendance at the upcoming Surrey Pride Festival at Holland Park on Sunday.

“We have designed a colourful new T-shirt that flies in the face of this decision that many believe is backwards and possibly homophobic,” says the company’s media release.

“This T-shirt celebrates the diversity and inclusiveness that makes the growing metropolis of Surrey a place where people want to live, work and play.”

The company got into legal trouble once before with the City of Surrey for bending the official logo on T-shirts with the slogan “the future dies here.

The city eventually filed a cease-and-desist order.

“We trust this will not be the case this time,” Surrey Shirts says. “Parody and satire are permissible under Canadian Trademark Law and political expression is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

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