[Alison]

I was once told that placing a rainbow sticker upside down (purple on top) meant that you were not gay yourself, but supportive or ‘gay friendly’. Can anyone tell me if this is true?

User Detail :  

Name : Alison, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 28, City : Saginaw, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Therapist, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[themistoklis]

Its true 🙂

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Name : themistoklis, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Disability : Paralyzed, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 42, City : Athens, State : NA, Country : Greece, Occupation : unemployed, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

[nikki]

Actually that is true but a lot of people, even gay people dont know it. It depends on where you live, in Oklahoma most people do know what an upside down or backwards rainbow is, but here in Oregon, no less than four of my gay friends ride around with thier stickers on backwards, oblivious to the meaning. You have to be carefull, unless you like flirting with queer folk. You also might be putting yourself (or your car)at risk of a homophobic attack by straight people who think you are gay. My favorite straight ally sticker is the one that says ‘straight but not narrow’. that should very clearly state your position, avoiding dangerous or embarassing situations. Oh and thanks, we need all the straight friends we can get, you sound like a great friend.

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Name : nikki, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 36, City : ashland, State : OR, Country : United States, Occupation : barrista, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[J21179]

never heard of that particular ‘custom’ – but have seen t-shirts and stickers that say ‘straight but not narrow’ and other things to indicate support

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Name : J21179, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : ecumenical non-denominational, Age : 39, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Ben S.]

There are tons of stories and interpretations involving the rainbow flag. The only consistent thing I know about it is that it is a gay indentifier. One place says that purple should be on top if you ARE gay because the purple and blue stripes represent lesbians and gay men respectively. Others say it makes no difference. And some say supporters should put the flag upside-down. If you wish to show your support, you might want to go the route of maybe getting a pflag (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays) sticker or even something from the Human Rights Campaign. There are even some t-shirts or buttons you can get that say things like ‘Straight but not narrow’

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Name : Ben S., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 29, City : Lima, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : Telecommunications, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Patrick Kellogg]

Wow, I would disagree with this. I’m gay, and I’ve never noticed or heard about it in the gay community. Plus, I would disagree… does anybody else know which was is ‘up’? But even then, it wouldn’t hurt to put a rainbow sticker on your car even if you *were* straight… the worst that would happen is you’d get people speeding up next to you as you drive to check you out and smile. Nobody would come up to you or say anything in a parking lot. Trust me – a lot of gay guys would *love* it if a cute guy approached them because of their sticker, and it never happens (at least not to me!)

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Name : Patrick Kellogg, Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 35, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Self-unemployed, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Jen]

I’ve never heard of this trend. I would just assume you were a confused ‘newby.’ lol However, I have seen stickers that have variations of the rainbow and the word ‘friendly’ on them.

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Name : Jen, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 31, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[bj tillman]

That’s a new one one me and I’ve been actively gay for over 18 years now! If you want to be supportive of the GLBTQ communities then I might suggests you make a donation to HRC, (The Human Rights Campaign Fund), or, to NBJC (The National Black Justice Coalition). peace, bj in philly

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Name : bj tillman, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 35, City : philadelphia, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : Technical, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lynn22501]

This is interesting. I’m gay and live in a very gay-friendly area, but have never heard this. I have seen rainbow flags and stickers upside-down as you’ve described, but had always assumed that the person accidentally put it up that way. One this page, there is a little bit of discussion as to whether the flag should be flown with the red or purple stripe up: http://flagspot.net/flags/sex-rb.html

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Name : Lynn22501, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, 

[tigrress]

I have some gay friends who turn it upside down not seeing a difference between the two. To me, the red is on top as it is the first in order as per a million art classes ago. (Drew em that way when I was 3, it’s too ingrained in me)… However I have been told the purple on the outside of the curved rainbow is now the Christian’s non-gay rainbow. So many people still don’t recognized the symbol. To me it simply represents diversity. 🙂

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Name : tigrress, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : kansas city, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Bryan]

I’ve never heard of that. Usually it just means they didn’t know which way was up. 🙂 If you want to show that kind of support, there are multiple stickers for that purpose. The most common would probably be an ‘equal rights’ sticker. It’s a blue square with a yellow ‘=’ (equal) symbol in it. There are also other ones with phrases such as ‘straight, but not narrow’, etc.

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Name : Bryan, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 27, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Tech support agent, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Bob]

Someone is pulling your leg. A rainbow sticker is a rainbow sticker and what is upside down? I happen to like purple, so put it on top. If you like red, put it on top. You show your gay friendliness by your actions, not the position of a sticker.

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Name : Bob, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Celtic, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 44, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Graphic Artist, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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