![]() ![]() “Its colors are designed to include graysexuals, who operate in the ‘gray space’ between sexuality and asexuality, as well as demisexuals, who only feel sexual attraction under certain circumstances,” explains Tobin. The meaning: Despite its name, this flag is not strictly for asexual people. It was pared down to six colors, dropping pink and turquoise, due to the difficulty of producing pink fabric. “Baker said sexuality and gender identity are things everybody has, and so he wanted to have a symbol that was inclusive of everyone,” says Miraglia. (Prior to the rainbow flag, the movement used a pink triangle in an attempt to reclaim it from how Hitler used it to place a stigma on LGBTQ+ communities during WWII.) “That was a big year for LGBTQ+ community, because Harvey Milk had been elected to office as really the first openly gay person in California to be elected there,” explains Greg Miraglia, professor of LGBT studies and criminal justice at Napa Valley College, Santa Rosa Junior College and City College of San Francisco.īaker attempted complete inclusivity with the original eight colors in the flag-pink, red, orange, yellow, green turquoise, dark blue, and violet-with each color representing a different aspect of the human experience, like sex, life, and healing. The history: Baker’s flag was born in 1978 out of a response to activists calling for a new symbol for the gay movement. The meaning: According to Robert Deam Tobin, PhD, who teaches courses in gay and lesbian studies and queer theory at Clark University, the gay pride flag “was and is a cheerful, upbeat, optimistic, and instantly identifiable symbol of the LGBTQ+ community-and has caught on throughout the world, in big cities and little ones.” The rainbow was seen as a symbol of hope, dating back to the Bible, per artist Gilbert Baker’s 2019 memoir Rainbow Warrior. Speaking to the flags and the current iterations of Pride parades, DeClue says, “It's a celebration, and it's also a remembrance of the people who fought for the freedoms that we have today.” “I think the flags sort of represent struggle,” she says. That history is woven into the pride flag and its many iterations. “It was a huge act of resistance,” says Jennifer DeClue, PhD, associate professor of the study of women and gender at Smith College. The Stonewall Riots in 1969 predated the pride flag by nearly a decade. “It’s a coalition of different identities across axes of identity, orientation, expression, sexual desire, and romantic desire,” says Hannah Simpson, a LGBTQ+ writer, speaker, and activist. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), there are at least 25 different pride flags. Although it may be one of the most visible LGBTQ+ symbols, the rainbow flag is far from the only pride flag members of LGBTQ+ communities fly. You might also picture the original Gilbert Baker Pride Flag-the rainbow tapestry that has become ubiquitous throughout Pride celebrations. When you think of Pride Month, images of parades and celebrations probably pop into your head.
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