The Powerful Reason You’ll See Orange Pins On The Oscars Red Carpet This Year

Celebrities wearing pins to awards shows to indicate their support for causes has become a prominent practice, and it looks like the Academy Awards are going to be no different. People reported that some celebs will be wearing orange pins to the Oscars this Sunday — specifically, Wear Orange to Prevent Gun Violence pins from the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, "in an effort to raise awareness about gun safety." Everytown's standard pins are shaped like American flags and are orange, but The Hollywood Reporter reported pins at the Oscars may say "#NeverAgain."

The Oscars are happening Mar. 4, just over two weeks after a mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., took the lives of 17 people. They're also happening five months after 59 people were killed in a mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, nearly two years after 49 were killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, and five years and three months after 27 teachers and students were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

It's likely not surprising celebrities are showing their support for gun control now. There have already been 36 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2018, according to the Gun Violence Archive, and advocates have been in high gear for years, particularly since the 2012 shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown. But some have called the Parkland shooting a "tipping point" that could "[turn] into a powerful grass-roots movement rather than a passing election-year radar blip," USA TODAY reported.

Celebrities who wear the pins will be showing solidarity with gun control advocates, including many survivors from the Parkland shooting, who in the weeks since the shooting have been vocal on social media and at protests about the need for increased gun safety. Parkland survivors are behind the upcoming "March for Our Lives," a protest against gun violence which will take place Mar. 24 and recently received $500,000 in support from Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Amal Clooney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Marilyn Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, Kate Capshaw, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Everytown pins "have been sent to The Wall Group and other key Hollywood agencies to dole out prior to the red carpet." The pins, and several other Everytown apparel items, are orange because "[i]t's a color that symbolizes the value of human life," Everytown says on its website. "Hunters wear orange to alert other hunters that they're out there — as a way to take care of their own life and the lives of others. Now, we're turning orange into a symbol for the value of human life everywhere."

Celebrities including Julianne Moore and Emma Stone have worked with Everytown in the months since the mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in October, creating public service announcements encouraging people to contact their representatives about improving gun control regulations, People reported.

Along with the reported Everytown pins, celebrities will continue to wear Time's Up pins, stylist Elizabeth Stewart told People. She said she will be adding Time's Up pins to celebrities she styles because "I am doing everything I can to support the Time's Up movement."

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, while it's nice to see celebrities being willing to bring political issues onto the red carpet instead of shying away from having "divisive" opinions about things like LGBTQ rights, how sexual harassment is handled, and gun control, "[i]n 2018, it's not enough to sport an itty bitty ribbon." What will truly matter is whether or not the celebrities sporting Everytown pins at the Oscars will continue to fight for gun control after the cameras stop rolling and the red carpet outfits are packed away.