Thornton said he has worked in brand marketing and strategy since 2011, and over the years noticed how Black, gay, and femme culture was ignored. He said, “Now you see a lot of the surface-level [inclusivity] in front of the camera, but the person actually making the money is the white business dude from Cornell.” And so Thornton told his business partner that he wanted to do something for the culture. “The word “civil” (spelled C1v1l) was not taken somehow,” he said.