As I described in Alphabet Soup, the LGBT community resists categorization and labels, while at the same time it is guilty of same by adding letters to the abbreviation LGBT under the motto “everyone counts and must be named separately”.
This is also happening with the symbol of the community, the six-colored rainbow flag.
The rainbow flag
I find the division created in the creation of a new rainbow flag really shocking. We have been using Gilbert Baker’s cheerful six stripes for 40 years. Red means life, orange means healing, yellow stands for sunlight, green for nature, blue for serenity and purple for character. So beautiful, ethereal, general values and emotions.
In 2018, noises were heard that not everyone could agree with (the meaning of) this flag. I really can’t imagine a reason why anyone would feel excluded from those values, other than with the unholy motivation “All Lives Matter” or “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others”.
Then the non-binary graphic designer Daniel Quasar came up with the so-called Pride Progress flag. It is an extension of the rainbow flag with a chevron in which 5 colors have been added. The pink, white, and blue stripes symbolize the transsexual and non-binary members of the community. In addition, the brown and black stripes symbolize the members of color. Quasar added that the brown and black stripes also commemorate the victims of AIDS.
Pardon my French, but what a bullsh*t. That change of the old flag has really not been the wish of the victims of AIDS, but it is dragged in to make it vulnerable, so that you can’t really say anything about it. Same as “members of color”. So you now make that simple combination of 6 emotions racial, you also add a gender priority (because why are transgender and lesbian not shown separately?), and make it ‘medical’ by sticking a disease on it.
That would be like changing the Dutch flag with additional symbols because women and Muslims do not feel represented as a result, and then let it fly on the Westerkerk as a symbol for the whole of the Netherlands.
I am often accused of being a white cisgender man, and therefore cannot and should not judge the problems and feelings of anyone who is not. It seems to me a very restrictive and contemptuous view, which is mainly used because it resembles a trump card to which there is no possible response. I say to those people: I’m not stuck in that white, male cis box, but I am well aware that there is more going on. But that doesn’t mean I have to sit and watch as the community is divided with a Me First mentality. BLM and MeToo have not done that either: own struggle, own identity, own flag.
So “Progress”, and that’s important. This bleak and graphically unsightly and clunky design was adopted by various parties and organizations eager to embrace ‘progress’. Ignoring the corruption of the values that all members represent. Pride Amsterdam started with it, and because it is a large and visible event with the accompanying influence, the city picked up on it. Subsequently, public buildings such as the museums also started to show this ‘progress’. It’s nice that they are celebrating as a statement of support, but unfortunately not well informed. The Domino Theory…
And where does it end? Not long ago someone added another yellow square with purple circle for Intersex. It is of course fine if everyone has their own flag, hundreds of countries and millions of associations have that too. But don’t make the mistake of introducing a new flag because you feel left out by the old (and again, far-fetched), and then present it as something for the whole family. No progress.
Those six stripes also look great on products, packaging, gas stations, bicycle paths and on buildings.
And if you don’t embrace that new flag, like cafe De Regenboog in Nijmegen, you will be threatened by “the community” too. What is it with the threats and vandalism? Well, it’s an extension of LGBT-related violence and homophobia (or to quote Morgan Freeman, “I Hate the Word Homophobia. It’s not a Phobia. You’re not Scared. You’re an Asshole.”), but it is therefore applied in both directions: if you do not want to accept progress, you will be threatened by (some members of) the community.
Conclusion
It is commercially (and socially) interesting to focus on the LGBT+ community, or at least to include it in your HR policy and your communications. But there are quite a few pitfalls, which are also created by the community itself. So watch out for the choices you make and don’t be fooled.
Alfred Verhoeven is a marketer and is in the final phase of his PhD research Marketing the Rainbow. He previously wrote for ILOVEGAY about Pronouns, Alphabet soup, M&M’s and the lesbian invasion, Magnum and the lesbian wedding, Marketing the Rainbow: the process and all that came before it, Sport and (un)sportmanship, Why you need a supplier diversity program, BeNeLux LGBTIQ+ Business Chamber (BGLBC), From B2C and B2B to B2G and G2G (oh, and G2C), The Men from Atlantis, The other kind of cruising, Booking.com, Home Deco, Haters and trolls: the ‘letter to the editor’ of the 21st century, 5 Bizarre LGBT Videos, TRANSparency, Transgender persons as a target group, Matchmaking, 5 videos that went viral, From Representation To Respect, Cultural sensitivities and social involvement in marketing, 4 reasons to practice diversity and The Rules of Market Segmentation.
Article provided by Alfred Verhoeven, Marketing The Rainbow
Does the Gay Consumer Really Exist?
www.MarketingTheRainbow.info
I don’t disagree with you Albert. When the “progress” flag appeared, and I was told, “this is the new flag the LGBT community has adopted.” I’ll admit that at 66, I’m not the advocate/I was in 70s, 80s, 90s, or 2000s, but I did have to ask “who” represents the community sufficiently to make this change? They certainly didn’t ask me. I much prefer the original principles based flag. But then, I am only one person.
I have a similar feeling about the word “queer” … I don’t like it and don’t include it when talking about our community. I understand the feelings and opinions of those who use it but will not be pressured by those people to describe myself with that term.
Despite my age, I am as progressive as the next person but, progress is not progress when it is suddenly and arbitrarily thrust upon you.
As for me, I’m sticking with the original flag a d not using queen.