Queer people are getting their rights violated and removed in real time, and now we have ppl from all across the political spectrum arguing over a flag I have never seen before.
At this point, I’m convinced that the flag is an intentional psyop designed to sow division in the community over colours on a rectangle to distract from actual issues.
Given the unprecedented attacks on trans folks and the much higher murder rates of poc queers I think giving them space on the progress flag is more about making a statement about inclusivity and intersectionality than anything else.
Trying to include more groups like bisexual is just missing the point and people arguing that the progress flag should stay the way it is (although no one is talking about the intersex inclusive one which is an interesting statement on the erasure of intersex individuals), is more about the recognition of that statement and trying not to water down the message with a dash of design because it’s already pretty crowded.
Ultimately I do not care which flag you fly. It’s okay to say that you don’t like the design of a particular flag, but you should stop a second before commenting that and think a bit about what you could possibly accomplish with such a statement. It’s not your flag and you’re not flying it, so ultimately does it matter what you think of it’s design? Do you walk up to people with shirts you think are designed poorly and say “your shirt sucks, get a new shirt”? All you’re going to do is make them defensive and you’re pretty likely to start a fight, especially if you go off on some weird tangent about how you think the flag is bigoted in some fashion. The old adage ‘if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ is pretty much designed for situations like this.
Yeah. Personally, I find it encouraging to see the progress flag, because it explicitly states its support in a world that’s sometimes hostile. I definitely notice when people actively have a problem with me being trans, so it’s nice to see people who are supportive making themselves visible.
I had an older couple of gay men treat me like a zoo animal for just hanging around drinking coffee as a trans woman at pride, in Provincetown of all places, wearing my regular clothes. Like, shoving a camera in my face and commenting to one another about how butch they felt I was. I would have dumped my drink over him if I hadn’t been so shocked. A pride flag doesn’t really tell me anything about whether you’re transphobic.
Wow, so sorry you had to deal with that. 😢 Especially from older gay men who probably had to fight for their own rights when they were young.
When I look at my own environment it seems the anti-trans sentiment seems to be exploding. Especially since the fascists became the biggest party in the last Dutch elections. I’ve literally had to cut some “friends” off because I was sick of hearing their BS. Always the same tired fake facts crap too (like “they’re trying to convert our kids”)
I’m not trans but some of my friends are, and my impression is that it has become much harder for them in recent years. I always wear rainbow bands in June mainly because I thought it was all inclusive (and I couldn’t find progress ones). But I’ll try to find a progress one or a trans-flag one to wear beside it this year ❤️