My name is Angelique, and I am an artist, activist, writer, graphic designer, entrepreneur, and a senior at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, studying journalism. I am the president of UNLV Rebels for Life, and have been an activist in the pro-life movement since I was 14. I officially launched Life Dress (lifedress.org) in April 2019, after painting myself a pro-life dress for a pregnancy resource center fundraiser and receiving lots requests from fellow activists who also wanted to wear styles that speak for life!

What makes Life Dress unique is that not only is everything hand-painted, but every dress is also pre-loved and completely one-of-a-kind. Part of my mission is to raise awareness against fast fashion and its link to human trafficking and the abortion industry. Additionally, 100% of profits made go to funding student activism for projects ranging from educational apologetics workshop events to supporting pregnant and parenting students on campus.

Dedicating your life to abolishing abortion means that you can pretty much guarantee backlash. I have been receiving hate and verbal attacks from pro-abortion individuals since I sued my high school and it blew up all over national news. Abortion advocates tore me apart then, and they continue to do so to this day.

This past weekend, I had somewhat of a deja vu to those high school days of flooding hate comments, personal insults, and being told to “f-off” on my Facebook page. On August 17th, I posted a series of 3 photos of myself showcasing my Life Dress Love Life Tote and Pro-Life Feminist Purse.

On August 21st, that post very unexpectedly went from maybe 6 or so likes to dozens of laugh-reacts.

I went on with my life and checked Facebook again later in the day. The laughing abortion advocates on my post had now surpassed 100. Soon, 200. It only began to multiply. Pro-abortion people were pouring in by the truckloads, dumping “deletus fetus” memes, edgy tag groups, and vile comments that painted abortion as a joke instead of the actual violent killing of preborn human beings.

They told me that I am ugly, that my art is trash, and that I have internalized misogyny because apparently you can’t be feminist and want all females to have equal rights…

Below are some of the comments that I felt compelled to screenshot:

In addition to comments on that one post, they also went through a bunch of my old posts, as well as my actual Life Dress Facebook page and began to leave negative reviews full of complete lies about myself, my business, and my products.

This one is particularly outrageous, albeit creative, considering I don’t currently sell shirts, I don’t own any physical locations, and I don’t have any employees:

What was my response, as well as the pro-life community’s response, to all of this? Heart reacts. Or, more accurately, love. I shared what was happening to my amazing Instagram supporters @lifedressorg, as well as to all of my incredible pro-life friends far and wide. They began to share it to their own pages and groups, and pretty soon, the pro-life community was united in combating the hate with positivity!

The post has hit over 2.2k reactions, with more support than hate at this point. I had been pretty unfazed by the onslaught of attackers because I am just so used to it by now, but to witness so many pro-lifers come together in support of my work and this movement was truly beautiful!

It is so important for us to remain on the side of love, compassion, and peace; because we have the truth. Truth must accompany love so that we can create the change we need to abolish abortion in our lifetimes.

If you have jumped aboard and heart-reacted my post or left a kind message, I want to say thank you. I received a direct message yesterday from a pro-lifer who told me that seeing my post blow-up with hate and having the pro-life movement react with compassion made her more convicted than ever to dedicate her time to this mission. I have had younger activists reach out and tell me that they found my work inspiring and that they are now more driven to fight for preborn human rights. Messages like those mean the absolute world to me, and help me to stay motivated in this challenging mission.

As an activist, embracing controversy and combating hate with love has always felt like walking through a dark tunnel to the light. The light is so stunning at the end, and I see the light as a nation without abortion. A world without abortion. Every time you face the backlash, you move further towards the light. Because of this weekend’s craziness, Life Dress has gained hundreds of new supporters, I have connected with so many inspiring people, been gifted more opportunities to advance the cause, and have a sense of rejuvenation that we as the pro-life generation will always be stronger than the hate. We have to be, because those thousands of preborn lives are counting on us to brave the darkness and seek the light.

If you are interested in supporting Life Dress, my small business on a mission to end abortion, you can go to lifedress.org to order everything from dresses, skirts, ties, bags, scrunchies, journals, hats, and more. Follow on Instagram @lifedressorg and give a like on Facebook to be the first to know about new design releases!