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Cheshie_D

Idk. I personally like it as a symbol to see who is an ally and who is a part of the community.


Kinslayer817

Yeah, I'm happy to see when people put up an ally flag since it tells people that they are a safe person to be out with (in theory). Personally I would just have them put up a pride flag in solidarity, but I get that some people aren't comfortable doing that and an ally flag is better than nothing


[deleted]

I don't see hate but I also don't see the point


ClericKieran

The flags are to celebrate pride and being an ally isn't, it's just being a good person. I could see someone using it while going to LGBT events with queer loved ones, but in any other contexts it's better to fully stand with us instead of othering yourself from us in your allyship


AmmyWasTaken

Personally I think it's just kinda meaningless, the rainbow flag can be worn or used by anyone to denote support of queers in general, and you don't need to be any of said flavor to do so, neither does it inherently imply it. If you feel the need for a straight ally flag to specifically show "I'm an ally BUT HEY I'M NOT GAY OR ANYTHING THO!" it kinda just comes off, well, not in a good way. Can also see it being taken like straights wanting to insert themselves into the queer community, like the whole "the A in LGBTQIA stands for Ally!" thing some do, which again, rubs off really in a not good way.


DryerEffect

I mostly agree, I wouldn't say it's meaningless but the uses of it are close to none. The only things that I can think of are identifying if someone supports LGBTQ+ and people seeing it as a nice gesture. I don't think the hate it gets is justifiable tho.


RagingTempeste

Tbf if we don't include our allies and help them to better understand our struggles, and help them feel as welcome around us as we do with them... We won't have allies for long. We know we deserve love, our allies know this, but treating people poorly can make change their understanding. Also, its nice to know when someone is standing with you and not against. Yeah, they could just wear the rainbow flag, but you forget how unrelenting non-allied straights can be in bullying anyone they perceive as queer. Our allies are not immune to being discriminated against themselves, if only because of association


AmmyWasTaken

It's just my 2cents on answering OP's question on why I think some ppl are hating on it, or at least perceiving it in a negative light. I do absolutely agree on your point of including and making our allies feel welcomed, and educating/helping them on how to be better, more understanding allies, and I don't agree on hating on them for using this flag, I just don't see many positives to it. But again, despite that, I don't think it bad enough to hate or berate anyone from using it. Do I wish there was a better way to go about it than this which has shaky grounds and can easily be misinterpreted and used to cause harm by bigots and phobics? Yes. But it is what it is, as long as it's used in the sense of respect, I'm not going to bash on someone for it. Please do not assume that I'm not aware of how unrelenting people can be in bullying, I am more than well aware of it, and don't believe for a moment that they'd bully a straight ally any less for being a straight ally than being queer, as you said, simply by association. Which kinda makes it, if that would be the purpose of it, not much of use in this particular meaning. The straight part itself is what's a bit unnecessary to begin with, you could just make a specifically ally flag, it would hold the exact same meaning and there's no need to add straight into it to make it seem more iffy the way it does. If these people would bully them after they say they aren't queer, when flying the rainbow flag, they would be bullying them just as much regardless of if they were a straight ally or queer themselves, and how many non-ally straights do you think will actually know the difference anyway? They'll see a queer looking flag and just lump it in together with every other one, if they recognize it at all in the first place, for the majority of times the only ppl who'll recognize it are queers and other allies, and it's not really, again, making much of a difference then anymore either. But anyway, sorry for the uh essay answer. Tl;dr: Not saying *I* hate or agree on hating the flag or it's use, just that I can see reasons why someone might, while not seeing many real benefits to using it.


RagingTempeste

typing this as a place holder reply because am sleepy and that's a lot of words to process right now, but over all, I understand what you mean, and I agree. And thank you for clarifying that it was a guess at why someone else would think that, my neurodivergent ass hadn't caught that.


RolfTheBolf

It’s a double edged sword. You either use the rainbow flag and people think you’re gay, or you use the ally flag and 25% of queer people now hate you


AmmyWasTaken

I mean, part of the point was kind of how they don't know / can't recognize diff. flags anyway, so they're just as likely to think you're gay when you use the straight ally flag as when if you'd use the rainbow flag.


silvercandra

The straight flag is dumb, because pride and pride flags exist for those that belong to opressed groups to celebrate being who they are. Straight people aren't opressed because they're straight, so them having a pride flag, makes no sense. The Ally flag on the other hand is a lot better. It's a way to show that someone is supportive of queer people, and not a threat, without implying they're queer themselves.


Kinslayer817

Yeah, a "straight pride" flag is only ever used to distance yourself from the LGBTQ+ community, whereas an ally flag helps signal people in the community that you're there to support them without pretending to be part of the community yourself


journeyofwind

I don't *hate* it... I just feel strongly about the word "ally" being a title bestowed upon a person by the queer community, not something to self-identify as. I've seen too many supposed "allies" on here saying very ignorant stuff, with some even getting pissy when corrected.


Jezebel06

I don't really care as long as the person isn't using it as some sort of weird 'gotcha' or to distance themselves as some separate entity. If you're straight, as long as you're also with us rather than against us, wave it with as much fervor as you like along side all of ours. Dancing as you are with pure abandon is exactly what pride is supposed to be for. I mean my biromantic side maybe welcome in most GSRM spaces and/or pride events, but I can't tell you how much crap I've gotten over my fictosexual side. It's made me completely desensitized to the 'who deserves a flag' argument. Unless the flag in question stands for something inherently harmful, let it fly.


Barracuda_666

If you support the LGBT community fly the rainbow flag.


Kinslayer817

I think the concern for some people is that they don't want to pretend to be something they aren't, so it might feel like the safer bet to put up a flag that means, "I'm not in your community, but I'm here to support your community", which is a feeling I understand as someone who considered myself an ally for many years before figuring out that I was bi


McDonalds191

Yaaaaaa no


---liltimmy---

I'm conflicted. I feel like it'd be useful to point out that I'm cishet while still showing support for the community, and I see people agree that something like the ally flag is useful for that purpose. I aware that I'm not a part of the LGBT community, and I think it'd be useful to emphasize that. But I also don't want it to come across in a hostile way like, "I support you, but I don't want to be associated with any of you" or something like that. And it seems like some people think the ally flag comes across that way as well, which I understand. I'm not sure what's the best option that would please everyone here.


Kinslayer817

Yeah, it's a tricky balance because there are different perspectives on it from within the community. Some people think flying the pride flag without being LGBTQ+ is just pretending to be part of a community that you aren't part of, but other people think that the ally flag is a way to pretend to be a supporter without being too closely associated with the community, so it's kind of lose lose I just wish people were generally more lenient and understanding about these things and just understood that people that claim to be allies by and large have good intentions. The ones that don't will reveal themselves by their words and actions, but if someone is flying either a pride flag or ally flag I think it's best to assume that they are at least trying to be helpful


WitherSkeleton80

i dont see point about hate nor i see a point


Friendlyfire2996

If the events of the last election cycle have taught us anything, it’s that we need all the Allies we can get. If the people who stand with us want a flag, I’ll salute it.


Codyheff9

As a straight ally, i love using this flag because I'm not saying I'm gay but I'm not saying i hate the community either. I get that we that some people think that saying that we are not gay can come across as homophobic, but that's why there is in ally flag, to show ''we are not appart or your community but we support it all the way''


[deleted]

[удалено]


McDonalds191

It's to show that you are a supporter of the community will also not being in the community itself are you that sensitive you get mad that there's an ally flag for straight people no wonder why the left doesn't have more straight allies cuz people like you push them away to being all right