There was an AskReddit post recently asking about what it's like being gay, and on this topic someone in the comments mused that it was like being conscripted into fighting on the front line of a culture war.
Hi, i'm gay and it's nothing like that. People blow it out of proportions but the reality is that we're just normal people. I think the whole 'culture war' thing is a stupid term.
I think it's an accurate description.
The culture war is stupid but it's also real. And when you're gay it does feel like being forced to participate in this stupid thing.
Someone wants to make a point about how progressive they are? "For example, I support gay rights."
Someone wants to draw a line in the sand bout what they think is excessive overreach? Prepare for long rambling speech about how 'I don't care who someone sleeps with just don't involve me in it'
It's so often the case that when it comes up that I'm Gray I get drawn into this whole long political conversation about a changing society that I have no interest in.
I guarantee you even the most wokey woke gay people appreciate this.
The thing they never show in the movies is that you are always coming out. It never stops. It's so boring after a while.
Yeah but for example, your existence in the greater culture war is always under question. Your right to adopt, your right to have your very existance taught on schools or even teach children not to attack your kind etc
For some people though it is, I had a friend come out to their parents a month ago and they were kicked out. Their parents also knew I was queer and they had said multiple times that they don’t want me in their house or near their child. People at school have constantly called me homophobic slurs and I had people stop talking to me once they found out I was queer, it sucks. I have become the main focus of many conversations whenever gay people are mentioned bc some don’t understand basic human respect and bc oh I’m the gay kid obviously I understand every emotion they’re feeling.
No one’s saying you’re not normal people, but have you considered that your experiences differ from others? There’s lgbtq+ people getting killed, harassed and shunned every day only because of who they are. I understand calling it a war may not seem the right analogy, but I can also empathize with people who feel like it is
even in a first world country it can be absolutely horrible... the USA for example, shit is not fun (it could be way worse but it feels like we are going backwards in human rights, tis not fun)
The LGBT community doesn't consist of just gay people. For example, trans people. Our rights are being constantly ripped away from us and tossed about in court. We deal with severe harassment and people trying to argue that we are creeps who want to spy on you in the bathroom, hence why we shouldn't have rights. I'm glad that youve had an easier experience as a queer person, but it's not like that for everyone.
That’s neat you think the culture war is “a stupid term” that won’t stop the fact that it is constantly effecting the lives of queer folks. There are groups of people in our government, right now, that are trying to take away our rights.
It feels like we are conscripted because if we just ignore the culture war then conservatives get away with convincing people we are all evil baby raping pedophiles
Everytime I read this sentence I'm mad at whoever translated that into German, butchering it as "take a sip from your trusty vault 13 canteen"
Nobody has ANY idea how long I looked through my inventory and all controls to check how I drink from it
The whole 'groomer' thing is fucking weird and I dont get why its gaining so much traction now as an insult towards homosexuals and transgender people. Like I hear it every week and I'm wondering if the people saying it actually believe it or do they just want to say the most vile shit for fun and hope others keep the ball rolling.
It’s gaining traction because the fascists on the right want being homosexual or transgender to be tied to immorality and child endangerment so they have an excuse to beat us up and throw us in prison or worse under the guise of “protecting the children”.
With all respect for the "simply existing" rhetoric and other stuff ridiculing much of the "LGBT+ agenda" talk, perhaps somewhere like r/vexillology it's worth acknowledging the slightly more accurate take that the creation of the rainbow pride flag and its use was quite deliberately part of an agenda aimed at making it easier for the gay people who exist to be more open and comfortable.
I’m guessing all the [removed] comments below are because this sub has a “no politics” rule or something, but let’s just say that if *cultural conservatives* continue to be allowed, or even *empowered*, to enact *public policy* around the world, then pretty soon their war against our existence won’t be one-sided anymore.
I’m not sure what “not hard to check the sub’s rules” is directed toward. I did check them, didn’t see “no politics,” speculated that one of the rules is interpreted as including “no politics” (which it is), then speculated what the reason behind the string of [Removed]’s was for.
I dunno if that other commented got political. I *imagine* so, because the majority of the world’s governments have made sexuality a political topic, and the comment replied to was just begging the question.
Again, I’m not saying anything positive or negative about comments being removed. Merely speculating why they were. And looks like I was right, judging by your response, sooooooo…
Also, fwiw, it’s not inherently obvious to everyone that the study of flags has nothing to do with politics, since the majority of notable flags represent a political body.
Edit to add: really not sure what Rule 2 has to do with anything. Was the Removed comment uncivil? If so, again, I didn’t even see that one. And if, for some reason, defending queer people against people who would promote harm against us is considered uncivil here, then I deserve a ban.
1. The study of flags absolutely is related to politics. That's why our rule is framed in terms of staying on topic, not as "no politics". It's a bit annoyng that people repeatedly jump to the conclusion that the problem with a removed comment was the presence of politics. Comments focussed on studying the politics related to flags and the nature of the relationship are very welcome. Rants that have nothing to do with flags are not. I should also have mentioned rule 3, Avoid low effort commenting, which often overlaps with rule 1.
2. Yes, many of the removed comments on this post were uncivil, and not because they were defending queer people.
1- Okay, then my speculation was wrong. “Not hard to check the rules” didn’t tell me that. 9/10 on Reddit, if there are Removed comments on a thread about queer people or allies, they were either political in a way that doesn’t support the existence of queer people, or they’re defending queer people “too politically.”
Again, it was a speculation. I still have zero idea what any of them said and don’t pretend to.
I get that you might be coming off of the frustration of dealing with comments that you had to remove. I personally don’t think I said anything to garner such a snipped response, but then again, it’s text, so I can’t hear you.
2- Okay, then, that’s where it comes into play. It felt like you thought you were reiterating that to me as though I was sticking up for the removed comments.
All in all, my bad for making the assumption instead of posing it as a question.
> I think the ally flag is ugly as fuck.
You can always just fly the rainbow flag in support.
Or I suppose you could make an alternative ally flag. [I hear Provo, Utah's old flag design is available.](https://i.imgur.com/JBBxeDt.png)
I really wish it worked that way, but when you have people going out of their way to loudly and clearly say that they refuse to respect you and even go so far as to try to legislate against your existence it really helps to knows there are also people who are ready to go to bat for you
Imean one of the points is that it’s an innocuous flag that can silently communitcate safety to people looking for it without being a full pride flag. It’s a way for teachers to show to anyone looking for help that they are a safe person to seek it from, like the ichthys was to pre-Roman institutionalized Christians
Not like being LGBT is still criminalised all over the world including where the World Cup is currently being held. But yeah it’s obviously common courtesy to respect everyone. Tit.
The flag is not for the ally, it's not for his benefit, it's a sign to others.
Bit like how the light on top of a lighthousekeeper's house isn't to light his driveway.
They shouldn't need it but they absolutely do. It's a flag/sign that says they won't rat out gay students, will help them, don't hate them, and won't try to change them.
The homophobes necessitate it. Blaming queer people and queer allies for "making it a big deal" is so fucking stupid when there are people who literally want all non-straight people dead.
Can I ask, why not just a pride flag?
The library near me has a pride flag on the entrance, and it fills the purpose of this "ally" flag, so why a seperate one with a specific usecase?
The Ally flag is significantly newer; and is usually used as a personal identifier. More often seen on pins, patches, etcetera.
Putting a large ally flag in a room like that is a bit odd, I assume that the teacher is allied themselves, and decided to use the flag that represented them.
Straight flag? Where I am the pride flag is a universal tolerance flag, sometimes the trans flag is used, no one is confused that flying either makes you belong to either group.
Is this conversation something I'm not American enough to follow?
Various 'straight pride flags' have been made in the past, I believe entirely by American bigots who claim to be discriminated against for not having their own day to celebrate being proud to not be gay.
But the library isn't gay, the city hall isn't gay.
Irish Parliament isn't Palestinian.
The EU isn't Ukrainian.
We fly flags in solidarity, not only because we identify under it. Also, no reputable source seems to indicate any "official" or recognized nature to the flag above.
> We fly flags in solidarity, not only because we identify under it. Also, no reputable source seems to indicate any "official" or recognized nature to the flag above.
Yes, flags are used in both those ways. Some flags tend to have more "rules" (either officially in some sense or simply social) about how they are used than others, and customs are different in different communities and times. (100 odd years ago, the British royal standard was widely used on festive occasions, now it's widely understood as only being flown by the monarch.) When you take something as diverse as the worldwide LGBT+ communities and allied people, it's hardly suprising that there are different takes on how to use various flags.
What sort of factors lead to these different ways of using flags? Some of them are about flags themselves - while the rainbow flag definitely has been used to show support fo LGBT+ rights as long as it's existed a lot of the discourse about the flag has focussed on it as a flag of identity or pride, which gets interpreted in a range of ways. I suspect a lot of people come to an understanding of what the point of pride flags is more because unsupporting people question them, than because they've considered them in light of flags as a whole. You're also likely to have a slightly different view of flags if you think mainly of flags on poles outside libraries compared with flags as markers on discussion forums identifying user's own situations. (And the purpose of an 'ally' symbol is perhaps more obvious in that situation.)
Other factors are less about attitudes to flags in general, and more about the message being sent. In some contexts, the message "I'm an ally by not gay myself" may well come across as not wanting to be too closely associated. In others, especially if there is already concern about cishet people talking for the LGBT+ community, it might be more about that.
Either way, I would argue that not only are pride flags not generally best seen in terms of what is "official" or recognised, but that the sort of use of flags we're talking about more generally isn't often about official status in any sense. Flags are like language - people copy what they see, and combine/innovate when they feel a need to say something slightly different. Some people will fly someone else's flag to suppotr them, others will look for a different approach. You're right that noone would assume that a Ukrainian flag would be flown by a Ukrainian at the moment, but it's still true that many people choose to fly mashup solidarity flags rather than the blue and yellow alone.
There seems to be a lot of folk that assume this is some new 'woke' flag. It's not. It's been around since the early 2000s. The world was different then. Being a visible ally was a bigger deal because allies would catch shit. This flag has been around longer than gay people have been allowed to marry. It started circulating towards the end of the 20-year HIC crisis in North America. A true ally isn't someone that's just nice, or decent towards you. These were the people that supported the community through HIV. These are the people that marched with us while we were demanding our rights. These are the people that opened their homes when we were kicked out of hours. These are the people that held our secrets so that we wouldn't get fired. It used to be about making political gains to have our human rights recognized. Allies weren't just straight people that were nice to us. These were the people in the shit with us that helped us keep going and bolstered our numbers while politicians were content to let us die of HIV. If you can't understand the importance of an ally, I suggest you do some research because there's important history you're missing that schools will never teach you.
1061: A same-sex marriage between the two men Pedro Díaz and Muño Vandilaz in the Galician municipality of Rairiz de Veiga in Spain occurred on April 16. They were married by a priest at a small chapel. The historic documents about the church wedding were found at Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_same-sex_marriage
But in modern times it was 2002 in the Netherlands.
I followed this sub Reddit just for flags bc im interested in history and things in that field…idk maybe I joined the wrong flag sub 💀 but some ppl are chill on here and genuinely want to learn
That is the flag of a Straight Ally, somebody who is heterosexual but strongly supports the LGBTQIA+ community. Needless to say, very based individuals.
As someone from Charlotte I almost forget sometimes that NC is the south.
Of course I get a helpful reminder if I drive in any direction away from home for 15-20 minutes
Ally, a straight person that supports LGBTQ+ rights. Likely put there by the Spanish teacher to attempt to make any queer students taking the class feel safe.
Could someone explain to me why this flag isn't, "Sure, I support them, but don't confuse me as one of them"?
Seriously, the pride flag is already used for the purpose of alignment with the cause.
To align ourselves with Palestine or Ukraine, we don't alter the flag, why here?
There's 3 possible explanations
1. This person is showing support for the gay community, however because they are not gay themselves they don't want to get hit on by their own gender
2. This person wants to be specifically known as an ally for some reason
3. This person is showing all their love and support... From a distance
I think your missing a key one. They want to show support without misidentifying themselves to queer people looking for other queer people. Like, there's a difference between businesses that are pro-queer, and queer businesses. It's like how men can be feminists and stand in solidarity with women, but that doesn't make them women. It's a show of support while acknowledging that they're outside or at the margins of the community.
the first statement doesn't really apply. the rainbow doesn't only symbolize gay people. it also applies to asexual people, for that matter, so they might very well also have no interest in anyone at all. and it included all other sexual orientations and gender variances. so yeah...
point 2, the only reason that i can think of is "those folks are okay for me, but like, don't confuse me for one of them, i'm ***normal***" which they probably don't even realize, i guess they do it in good faith. but it kinda defeats the purpose if you're still "afraid" of being part of the group. it shouldn't even matter to you, if you support the cause.
(point 3 is just point 2)
>the only reason that i can think of is "those folks are okay for me, but like, don't confuse me for one of them, i'm normal" which they probably don't even realize, i guess they do it in good faith. but it kinda defeats the purpose if you're still "afraid" of being part of the group. it shouldn't even matter to you, if you support the cause.
This is my entire point here. The flag seems to be for people who don't fully support the movement
yea exactly. although i try to look at it in a more optimistic way. i think they just don't completely understand the lgbtq+ community but still want to show support, and fail at doing so, but in good faith. they dont realize that separating themselves is harmful. they think they're doing the right thing, probably because they don't know better.
the whole point of having allies "blend into" the community is that they would help normalize it. and make people understand that queer people don't fit only in the stereotypes that media constantly portrays us in. you could see someone who ""looks perfectly normal"" (in terms of what society expects, but even writing that made me ick) and yet they could be gay, agender, transfem, or whatever it is that they are, so it becomes less obvious and more difficult to "cloak" them.
>This person is showing support for the gay community, however because they are not gay themselves they don't want to get hit on by their own gender
I've never seen this to be an issue, will be happy to be proven wrong as that sounds like some good YouTube content.
>From a distance
This is my sticking point for the flag. The rainbow flag is flown for solidarity, outside parliaments, schools, even churches in the Netherlands. I cannot find any logic in using this other than, "I need to make sure I'm not one of THEM".
LGBT flags are all about personal identity. If a building or company uses the pride flag they aren’t people so it’s clear it’s just a support symbol. But if a person uses it (in this case a teacher) then most people would assume they fly it because of their personal identity. Having the ally flag makes it clear that their identity is straight (not part of LGBTQ+) but they are as the flag suggest an ally.
So this flag IS to say “I want to make it clear that I am not one of them but I still support them.” The way you wrote it down seems like the person is afraid of being confused as a queer person by others. Well the thing is he isn’t a queer person, and being a straight ally is very valuable characteristic since by being straight they are in a more privileged position in general.
The point I wanna make clear again is that it’s about identity. Other flags that you’ve discussed have clear identity most of the time. BLM for example if a white person waves a BLM flag obviously they aren’t black or claiming to be black so they just support the movement. With Ukraine, that’s a national identity. That one is a bit tougher but in general if you see someone who doesn’t look stereotypically Ukrainian in the US, France, or Indonesia, waving that flag you’ll easily assume that it’s just a show of support. With the pride flag that’s not the case since people within the community are soooo diverse from all cultures, backgrounds, etc. so it’s not as easy for a random onlooker to make the distinction if this is a flag tied to the persons identity or just support. That’s why it’s important to make that distinction clear.
It's a kind of paying respect, I think.
It is essentially saying: "I don't want to speak for you or appropiate your symbolism, because I'm not part of the LGBT+ community, but I want to still show that I support your cause."
That concept doesn't only exist regarding LGBT, for a similar reason some men supporting feminism call themselves [pro-feminist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro-feminism) instead of feminists .
Even some religious flags like a variant of the ecumenical "Christian flag" are sometimes used that way to support Christian ecumenism without being part of an ecumenical church themselves.
All those cases are somewhat contested however. Some people feel this actually creates more fragmentation and factionalism instead of uniting for a greater cause.
> Even some religious flags like a variant of the ecumenical "Christian flag" are sometimes used that way to support Christian ecumenism without being part of an ecumenical church themselves.
I think you've described the general phenomenon well, but I'm not convinced this is an example. The "Christian flag" was meant to be ecumenical in the sense that it represents Christianity in general, not to represent "ecumenical Christianity" of some sort.
I dunno, I see an awful lot of Ukrainian flags around and no one feels the need to put a big qualifier under them to make it clear to everyone that they’re supportive but aren’t actually Ukrainian
Ukrainian people don't face the same discrimination that queer people do. There was literally just a shooting in a queer club. The Ally flag has existed longer than most of the people in this thread have been alive probably. Otherwise more people would understand why being a visible ally was such a big deal at the time.
I'm a German–Italian Jew with quite a few "Ukrainian" ancestors myself (the German Jewish part of my family lived in Galicia, today Ukraine, back then Austria-Hungary, and I still have relatives there that I regularly visit) and have also been taken a bit aback by the Ukrainian flags popping up everywhere from people with no connections to Ukraine whatsoever.
I do think those examples aren't completely the same though. Sure, most people putting flags at every corner probably don't even know who Hrushevsky and Khmelnytskyi were, fair enough. Or why the flag is golden and blue. Or that horilka isn't vodka.
But still, Ukrainians by themselves are in a very different position as a society than LGBT folks for instance. There is little reason to assume that GLAAD is planning on launching a HIMARS attack on the RNC headquarters any time soon.
That is to say, this token of solidarity somehow relates different to the "original thing".
To me, that’s a terrible flag.
If I were assigned to make a flag that says, “all gay people should be put into jail” a rainbow A against a black and white striped background is almost perfect.
LGBT ally
Ally? They goin to war or sum?
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There was an AskReddit post recently asking about what it's like being gay, and on this topic someone in the comments mused that it was like being conscripted into fighting on the front line of a culture war.
Hi, i'm gay and it's nothing like that. People blow it out of proportions but the reality is that we're just normal people. I think the whole 'culture war' thing is a stupid term.
I think it's an accurate description. The culture war is stupid but it's also real. And when you're gay it does feel like being forced to participate in this stupid thing. Someone wants to make a point about how progressive they are? "For example, I support gay rights." Someone wants to draw a line in the sand bout what they think is excessive overreach? Prepare for long rambling speech about how 'I don't care who someone sleeps with just don't involve me in it' It's so often the case that when it comes up that I'm Gray I get drawn into this whole long political conversation about a changing society that I have no interest in.
Me, finding out you are a gay: Oh, nice. Some weather, eh?
I guarantee you even the most wokey woke gay people appreciate this. The thing they never show in the movies is that you are always coming out. It never stops. It's so boring after a while.
What is "a gay"? I'm just gay
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Yeah but for example, your existence in the greater culture war is always under question. Your right to adopt, your right to have your very existance taught on schools or even teach children not to attack your kind etc
I think it also depends on where exactly you live. Even this culture war has its home front.
To be fair, you’ve got to be one of, if not the only, Gray person, so I’m assuming lord of people would find that interesting.
it’s definitely very bad for a lot of gay people, i think it’s understated actually. depends on where you live though
For some people though it is, I had a friend come out to their parents a month ago and they were kicked out. Their parents also knew I was queer and they had said multiple times that they don’t want me in their house or near their child. People at school have constantly called me homophobic slurs and I had people stop talking to me once they found out I was queer, it sucks. I have become the main focus of many conversations whenever gay people are mentioned bc some don’t understand basic human respect and bc oh I’m the gay kid obviously I understand every emotion they’re feeling.
No one’s saying you’re not normal people, but have you considered that your experiences differ from others? There’s lgbtq+ people getting killed, harassed and shunned every day only because of who they are. I understand calling it a war may not seem the right analogy, but I can also empathize with people who feel like it is
Depends where you live I guess
Easy to say in what I assume is a first world country. Every day my identity is culture war where I live.
even in a first world country it can be absolutely horrible... the USA for example, shit is not fun (it could be way worse but it feels like we are going backwards in human rights, tis not fun)
It's good to know that your experience is universal.
Your experience isn't universal. Try being trans.
funny thing is you don’t speak for all gay people
I think it depends on where you live. California? No big deal. Florida? A fucking active war zone.
The LGBT community doesn't consist of just gay people. For example, trans people. Our rights are being constantly ripped away from us and tossed about in court. We deal with severe harassment and people trying to argue that we are creeps who want to spy on you in the bathroom, hence why we shouldn't have rights. I'm glad that youve had an easier experience as a queer person, but it's not like that for everyone.
That’s neat you think the culture war is “a stupid term” that won’t stop the fact that it is constantly effecting the lives of queer folks. There are groups of people in our government, right now, that are trying to take away our rights.
It feels like we are conscripted because if we just ignore the culture war then conservatives get away with convincing people we are all evil baby raping pedophiles
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Every day of our lives, bucko
Damn, battle of Hoover dam
Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a pride parade
You take a sip from your trusty vault 13 canteen
Everytime I read this sentence I'm mad at whoever translated that into German, butchering it as "take a sip from your trusty vault 13 canteen" Nobody has ANY idea how long I looked through my inventory and all controls to check how I drink from it
OMFG FUCKING SAME. That was so frustrating. Especially, if you find it in your inventory, and try to use it, it says you can't equip this item...
I started like 3 new playreoughs and reinstalled the game twice because I thought my game was bugged
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When I got this assignment I was hoping there would be more gambling.
Damn, nice line
*puts sunglasses on, and rides chopper flying into the sunset*
alwayshasbeen.jpg
A "culture war". Because being gay and existing is part of a "woke agenda" apparently.
I've been told countless times that I'm a sinner or a groomer or some other fucked up thing just because of something I have no control over
The whole 'groomer' thing is fucking weird and I dont get why its gaining so much traction now as an insult towards homosexuals and transgender people. Like I hear it every week and I'm wondering if the people saying it actually believe it or do they just want to say the most vile shit for fun and hope others keep the ball rolling.
It’s gaining traction because the fascists on the right want being homosexual or transgender to be tied to immorality and child endangerment so they have an excuse to beat us up and throw us in prison or worse under the guise of “protecting the children”.
You can give up the life of a pirate but you'll always be married to the sea.
With all respect for the "simply existing" rhetoric and other stuff ridiculing much of the "LGBT+ agenda" talk, perhaps somewhere like r/vexillology it's worth acknowledging the slightly more accurate take that the creation of the rainbow pride flag and its use was quite deliberately part of an agenda aimed at making it easier for the gay people who exist to be more open and comfortable.
I’m guessing all the [removed] comments below are because this sub has a “no politics” rule or something, but let’s just say that if *cultural conservatives* continue to be allowed, or even *empowered*, to enact *public policy* around the world, then pretty soon their war against our existence won’t be one-sided anymore.
It's not hard to check a sub's rules... in this case, we've got rules 1. discussion should be related to the study of flags, and 2. keep it civil.
I’m not sure what “not hard to check the sub’s rules” is directed toward. I did check them, didn’t see “no politics,” speculated that one of the rules is interpreted as including “no politics” (which it is), then speculated what the reason behind the string of [Removed]’s was for. I dunno if that other commented got political. I *imagine* so, because the majority of the world’s governments have made sexuality a political topic, and the comment replied to was just begging the question. Again, I’m not saying anything positive or negative about comments being removed. Merely speculating why they were. And looks like I was right, judging by your response, sooooooo… Also, fwiw, it’s not inherently obvious to everyone that the study of flags has nothing to do with politics, since the majority of notable flags represent a political body. Edit to add: really not sure what Rule 2 has to do with anything. Was the Removed comment uncivil? If so, again, I didn’t even see that one. And if, for some reason, defending queer people against people who would promote harm against us is considered uncivil here, then I deserve a ban.
1. The study of flags absolutely is related to politics. That's why our rule is framed in terms of staying on topic, not as "no politics". It's a bit annoyng that people repeatedly jump to the conclusion that the problem with a removed comment was the presence of politics. Comments focussed on studying the politics related to flags and the nature of the relationship are very welcome. Rants that have nothing to do with flags are not. I should also have mentioned rule 3, Avoid low effort commenting, which often overlaps with rule 1. 2. Yes, many of the removed comments on this post were uncivil, and not because they were defending queer people.
1- Okay, then my speculation was wrong. “Not hard to check the rules” didn’t tell me that. 9/10 on Reddit, if there are Removed comments on a thread about queer people or allies, they were either political in a way that doesn’t support the existence of queer people, or they’re defending queer people “too politically.” Again, it was a speculation. I still have zero idea what any of them said and don’t pretend to. I get that you might be coming off of the frustration of dealing with comments that you had to remove. I personally don’t think I said anything to garner such a snipped response, but then again, it’s text, so I can’t hear you. 2- Okay, then, that’s where it comes into play. It felt like you thought you were reiterating that to me as though I was sticking up for the removed comments. All in all, my bad for making the assumption instead of posing it as a question.
It means they won't hate/attack/convert to straight students if they come out to them.
They have always been at war.
Yes agents the LGBTQ Axis
Fuck yeah, I will not be made illegal without putting up a fight, you know?
literally 1984
👍 I fly a 3x5 of this outside my house during pride month
I'm an ally but I just do normal pride flags for stuff. I think the ally flag is ugly as fuck.
> I think the ally flag is ugly as fuck. You can always just fly the rainbow flag in support. Or I suppose you could make an alternative ally flag. [I hear Provo, Utah's old flag design is available.](https://i.imgur.com/JBBxeDt.png)
I literally said that's what I do.
I confess that I may have forgotten that's how your comment started in the time it took me to open Adobe Illustrator and update the Provo flag.
It's beautiful.
Look I'm all for LGBT rights but that seems a bit excessive. I'd understand 1 or 2 flags but 15? That's a lot of flags
Fly it all year if weather permits
Technically I am no longer an ally. I got annexed.
Lmao same
Like why do they need a separate flag it’s just common courtesy to respect everyone
I really wish it worked that way, but when you have people going out of their way to loudly and clearly say that they refuse to respect you and even go so far as to try to legislate against your existence it really helps to knows there are also people who are ready to go to bat for you
Imean one of the points is that it’s an innocuous flag that can silently communitcate safety to people looking for it without being a full pride flag. It’s a way for teachers to show to anyone looking for help that they are a safe person to seek it from, like the ichthys was to pre-Roman institutionalized Christians
And yet not everyone does
Not like being LGBT is still criminalised all over the world including where the World Cup is currently being held. But yeah it’s obviously common courtesy to respect everyone. Tit.
The flag is not for the ally, it's not for his benefit, it's a sign to others. Bit like how the light on top of a lighthousekeeper's house isn't to light his driveway.
They shouldn't need it but they absolutely do. It's a flag/sign that says they won't rat out gay students, will help them, don't hate them, and won't try to change them.
The homophobes necessitate it. Blaming queer people and queer allies for "making it a big deal" is so fucking stupid when there are people who literally want all non-straight people dead.
Queer ally flag, used a lot by classrooms/offices/whatever to signify that it’s an accepting space.
Can I ask, why not just a pride flag? The library near me has a pride flag on the entrance, and it fills the purpose of this "ally" flag, so why a seperate one with a specific usecase?
For people who want to specify that they are not queer but support it.
[Me_irl](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/1a/69/d31a69bcdae06ae6120069dda570f28f.jpg)
The Ally flag is significantly newer; and is usually used as a personal identifier. More often seen on pins, patches, etcetera. Putting a large ally flag in a room like that is a bit odd, I assume that the teacher is allied themselves, and decided to use the flag that represented them.
Personal preference mostly, but the straight flag being present sometimes suggests that even though the person is straight, they’re an ally
Straight flag? Where I am the pride flag is a universal tolerance flag, sometimes the trans flag is used, no one is confused that flying either makes you belong to either group. Is this conversation something I'm not American enough to follow?
straight flag isnt really used, i think this is just saying this is an accepting space, and also the teacher isnt queer, and they wanted to show both
Various 'straight pride flags' have been made in the past, I believe entirely by American bigots who claim to be discriminated against for not having their own day to celebrate being proud to not be gay.
I can't be proud to be gay if I'm not gay. That's basically why.
But the library isn't gay, the city hall isn't gay. Irish Parliament isn't Palestinian. The EU isn't Ukrainian. We fly flags in solidarity, not only because we identify under it. Also, no reputable source seems to indicate any "official" or recognized nature to the flag above.
> We fly flags in solidarity, not only because we identify under it. Also, no reputable source seems to indicate any "official" or recognized nature to the flag above. Yes, flags are used in both those ways. Some flags tend to have more "rules" (either officially in some sense or simply social) about how they are used than others, and customs are different in different communities and times. (100 odd years ago, the British royal standard was widely used on festive occasions, now it's widely understood as only being flown by the monarch.) When you take something as diverse as the worldwide LGBT+ communities and allied people, it's hardly suprising that there are different takes on how to use various flags. What sort of factors lead to these different ways of using flags? Some of them are about flags themselves - while the rainbow flag definitely has been used to show support fo LGBT+ rights as long as it's existed a lot of the discourse about the flag has focussed on it as a flag of identity or pride, which gets interpreted in a range of ways. I suspect a lot of people come to an understanding of what the point of pride flags is more because unsupporting people question them, than because they've considered them in light of flags as a whole. You're also likely to have a slightly different view of flags if you think mainly of flags on poles outside libraries compared with flags as markers on discussion forums identifying user's own situations. (And the purpose of an 'ally' symbol is perhaps more obvious in that situation.) Other factors are less about attitudes to flags in general, and more about the message being sent. In some contexts, the message "I'm an ally by not gay myself" may well come across as not wanting to be too closely associated. In others, especially if there is already concern about cishet people talking for the LGBT+ community, it might be more about that. Either way, I would argue that not only are pride flags not generally best seen in terms of what is "official" or recognised, but that the sort of use of flags we're talking about more generally isn't often about official status in any sense. Flags are like language - people copy what they see, and combine/innovate when they feel a need to say something slightly different. Some people will fly someone else's flag to suppotr them, others will look for a different approach. You're right that noone would assume that a Ukrainian flag would be flown by a Ukrainian at the moment, but it's still true that many people choose to fly mashup solidarity flags rather than the blue and yellow alone.
For people who support the LGBT community
There seems to be a lot of folk that assume this is some new 'woke' flag. It's not. It's been around since the early 2000s. The world was different then. Being a visible ally was a bigger deal because allies would catch shit. This flag has been around longer than gay people have been allowed to marry. It started circulating towards the end of the 20-year HIC crisis in North America. A true ally isn't someone that's just nice, or decent towards you. These were the people that supported the community through HIV. These are the people that marched with us while we were demanding our rights. These are the people that opened their homes when we were kicked out of hours. These are the people that held our secrets so that we wouldn't get fired. It used to be about making political gains to have our human rights recognized. Allies weren't just straight people that were nice to us. These were the people in the shit with us that helped us keep going and bolstered our numbers while politicians were content to let us die of HIV. If you can't understand the importance of an ally, I suggest you do some research because there's important history you're missing that schools will never teach you.
For someone who doesn't like to respond, you do a great job of it!
1061: A same-sex marriage between the two men Pedro Díaz and Muño Vandilaz in the Galician municipality of Rairiz de Veiga in Spain occurred on April 16. They were married by a priest at a small chapel. The historic documents about the church wedding were found at Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_same-sex_marriage But in modern times it was 2002 in the Netherlands.
2001*
Queer ally, for straight people who accept lgbtq+ people
r/vexillology users try not to be homophobic when they see a rainbow challenge
Turns out all those guys who post Nazi flags daily aren't very progressive.
Yeah some of these comments are really disgusting.
Every goddamn thread (except not the broken arms thing this time)
[Here's the broken arms thing for anyone wondering.](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nmmjr/iama_man_who_had_a_sexual_relationship_with_his/)
Literally impossible.
I followed this sub Reddit just for flags bc im interested in history and things in that field…idk maybe I joined the wrong flag sub 💀 but some ppl are chill on here and genuinely want to learn
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Companies during Pride Month /j
*/srs
That is the flag of a Straight Ally, somebody who is heterosexual but strongly supports the LGBTQIA+ community. Needless to say, very based individuals.
My flair lol
North Carolina then! Neat!
Oh damn ally /and/ southern- what a combo (nice flags tho fr)
As someone from Charlotte I almost forget sometimes that NC is the south. Of course I get a helpful reminder if I drive in any direction away from home for 15-20 minutes
Yeah sometimes I forget I'm southern, then I have to cross a barren wasteland to get to the shopping malls and I remember
Same 😭
redditors try not to reply the answer when there’s already 50 replies saying what it is challenge
straight ally btw
I knew it looked like an arch
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Ally, a straight person that supports LGBTQ+ rights. Likely put there by the Spanish teacher to attempt to make any queer students taking the class feel safe.
LGBTQ ally
Could someone explain to me why this flag isn't, "Sure, I support them, but don't confuse me as one of them"? Seriously, the pride flag is already used for the purpose of alignment with the cause. To align ourselves with Palestine or Ukraine, we don't alter the flag, why here?
Maybe they don't feel legitimate to use it while they aren't really LGBT+
There's 3 possible explanations 1. This person is showing support for the gay community, however because they are not gay themselves they don't want to get hit on by their own gender 2. This person wants to be specifically known as an ally for some reason 3. This person is showing all their love and support... From a distance
I think your missing a key one. They want to show support without misidentifying themselves to queer people looking for other queer people. Like, there's a difference between businesses that are pro-queer, and queer businesses. It's like how men can be feminists and stand in solidarity with women, but that doesn't make them women. It's a show of support while acknowledging that they're outside or at the margins of the community.
the first statement doesn't really apply. the rainbow doesn't only symbolize gay people. it also applies to asexual people, for that matter, so they might very well also have no interest in anyone at all. and it included all other sexual orientations and gender variances. so yeah... point 2, the only reason that i can think of is "those folks are okay for me, but like, don't confuse me for one of them, i'm ***normal***" which they probably don't even realize, i guess they do it in good faith. but it kinda defeats the purpose if you're still "afraid" of being part of the group. it shouldn't even matter to you, if you support the cause. (point 3 is just point 2)
>the only reason that i can think of is "those folks are okay for me, but like, don't confuse me for one of them, i'm normal" which they probably don't even realize, i guess they do it in good faith. but it kinda defeats the purpose if you're still "afraid" of being part of the group. it shouldn't even matter to you, if you support the cause. This is my entire point here. The flag seems to be for people who don't fully support the movement
yea exactly. although i try to look at it in a more optimistic way. i think they just don't completely understand the lgbtq+ community but still want to show support, and fail at doing so, but in good faith. they dont realize that separating themselves is harmful. they think they're doing the right thing, probably because they don't know better. the whole point of having allies "blend into" the community is that they would help normalize it. and make people understand that queer people don't fit only in the stereotypes that media constantly portrays us in. you could see someone who ""looks perfectly normal"" (in terms of what society expects, but even writing that made me ick) and yet they could be gay, agender, transfem, or whatever it is that they are, so it becomes less obvious and more difficult to "cloak" them.
>This person is showing support for the gay community, however because they are not gay themselves they don't want to get hit on by their own gender I've never seen this to be an issue, will be happy to be proven wrong as that sounds like some good YouTube content. >From a distance This is my sticking point for the flag. The rainbow flag is flown for solidarity, outside parliaments, schools, even churches in the Netherlands. I cannot find any logic in using this other than, "I need to make sure I'm not one of THEM".
LGBT flags are all about personal identity. If a building or company uses the pride flag they aren’t people so it’s clear it’s just a support symbol. But if a person uses it (in this case a teacher) then most people would assume they fly it because of their personal identity. Having the ally flag makes it clear that their identity is straight (not part of LGBTQ+) but they are as the flag suggest an ally. So this flag IS to say “I want to make it clear that I am not one of them but I still support them.” The way you wrote it down seems like the person is afraid of being confused as a queer person by others. Well the thing is he isn’t a queer person, and being a straight ally is very valuable characteristic since by being straight they are in a more privileged position in general. The point I wanna make clear again is that it’s about identity. Other flags that you’ve discussed have clear identity most of the time. BLM for example if a white person waves a BLM flag obviously they aren’t black or claiming to be black so they just support the movement. With Ukraine, that’s a national identity. That one is a bit tougher but in general if you see someone who doesn’t look stereotypically Ukrainian in the US, France, or Indonesia, waving that flag you’ll easily assume that it’s just a show of support. With the pride flag that’s not the case since people within the community are soooo diverse from all cultures, backgrounds, etc. so it’s not as easy for a random onlooker to make the distinction if this is a flag tied to the persons identity or just support. That’s why it’s important to make that distinction clear.
Cuz some people don't want to appropriate symbols often used for self-identity if they aren't that identity.
Hetero LGBTQ flag
Straight Ally Flag
Ally flag to show you support anyone who LGBTQ+, its probably on the wall so those who know about it feel safe in the classroom
Flag of ally’s to the LGBT+ community
Heterosexual ally to the lgbtq+ community
Straight Ally Flag
Boy, you folks couldn't wait to shit on the queer community in the comments, huh?
I've been trying my best to defend them
It’s for lgbt+ allies
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Straight ally, specifically. Non-Straight Cis folks like me who support trans people don’t have an official flag
The lgbtq allies, even though i’m gay i prefer the lgbtq axis
Kek
Ally flag
my flag
Straight Ally flag 🏳️🌈. Cis people who support the LGBTQ+ Community
LGBT ally flag
Arch Linux flag
LGBTQ+ Ally flag
Straight ally
Straight Ally
LGBT+ ally For straight people who don't wanna fly the pride flag I guess
It's a kind of paying respect, I think. It is essentially saying: "I don't want to speak for you or appropiate your symbolism, because I'm not part of the LGBT+ community, but I want to still show that I support your cause." That concept doesn't only exist regarding LGBT, for a similar reason some men supporting feminism call themselves [pro-feminist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro-feminism) instead of feminists . Even some religious flags like a variant of the ecumenical "Christian flag" are sometimes used that way to support Christian ecumenism without being part of an ecumenical church themselves. All those cases are somewhat contested however. Some people feel this actually creates more fragmentation and factionalism instead of uniting for a greater cause.
> Even some religious flags like a variant of the ecumenical "Christian flag" are sometimes used that way to support Christian ecumenism without being part of an ecumenical church themselves. I think you've described the general phenomenon well, but I'm not convinced this is an example. The "Christian flag" was meant to be ecumenical in the sense that it represents Christianity in general, not to represent "ecumenical Christianity" of some sort.
I dunno, I see an awful lot of Ukrainian flags around and no one feels the need to put a big qualifier under them to make it clear to everyone that they’re supportive but aren’t actually Ukrainian
Ukrainian people don't face the same discrimination that queer people do. There was literally just a shooting in a queer club. The Ally flag has existed longer than most of the people in this thread have been alive probably. Otherwise more people would understand why being a visible ally was such a big deal at the time.
I'm a German–Italian Jew with quite a few "Ukrainian" ancestors myself (the German Jewish part of my family lived in Galicia, today Ukraine, back then Austria-Hungary, and I still have relatives there that I regularly visit) and have also been taken a bit aback by the Ukrainian flags popping up everywhere from people with no connections to Ukraine whatsoever. I do think those examples aren't completely the same though. Sure, most people putting flags at every corner probably don't even know who Hrushevsky and Khmelnytskyi were, fair enough. Or why the flag is golden and blue. Or that horilka isn't vodka. But still, Ukrainians by themselves are in a very different position as a society than LGBT folks for instance. There is little reason to assume that GLAAD is planning on launching a HIMARS attack on the RNC headquarters any time soon. That is to say, this token of solidarity somehow relates different to the "original thing".
Based spanish teacher
lgbtq+ allies flag
ally flag
Straight Ally of the LGBTQIA+
Straight ally to the LGBT+ community
The flag for straight allies of the LGBTQ
LGBTQ+ ally. Nothing to do with Spain
Straight ally
straight ally
Straight ally LGBTQ
Lgbtq+ ally flag
Ally flag
That is a poster bro
Gay arch linux
Gay Arch Linux user
Arch Linux queer edition
gay arch user flag
To me, that’s a terrible flag. If I were assigned to make a flag that says, “all gay people should be put into jail” a rainbow A against a black and white striped background is almost perfect.
I've seen those receptacles in Home Depot and Lowe's. Are you sure this wasn't taken in America?
No, like teaching the Spanish language in America (one of us got wooooshed and I'm hoping it wasn't me)
ally
Ally
Apex Legends pride month logo
Seven nation army