Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 6 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 24 years, 11 months ago by
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Does the word “Rainbow” have anything to do with gays or lesbians?
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Name : Kathy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 29, City : Florence, State : AZ, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College,It’s not necessarily the word ‘rainbow’ but rather the rainbow flag that is most associated with Lesbian & Gay pride. Although its presence has become very familiar, few of us are aware of how the rainbow became the symbol of the the Gay community, and what it really means. The rainbow itself has long been a symbol of various things for as long as there have been people to look into the sky. An early representation of the rainbow appears in the Buddhist symbol for good luck – a wish of success in all your endeavors. Our six-banded rainbow flag is intended to represent our diversity: We are everywhere, we are everybody. Every class, religion, race, educational level, occupation – you name it, we’re there. The flag as a whole has come to represent pride in the diversity of our community. The rainbow flag design dates to 1978, when Gilbert Baker was asked to design a symbol for the San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. As Gilbert described his design, ‘The idea of a flag the color of the rainbow hit me as a natural symbol from nature … There’s an implied multiculturalism to it, an all-encompassing aspect …’ The six bands (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet) traditionally represent, respectively, life, healing, sun, nature, art and harmony. Baker’s original flag, however, also included two additional bands: Hot pink (sexuality) and indigo (spirit). The hot pink stripe vanished almost immediately because Baker’s flag was hand-dyed, and when the flag began to be produced by others, hot pink fabric was nearly impossible to find. The indigo stripe disappeared when a grief-stricken community turned out to mourn the assassination of Harvey Milk (San Francisco’s first openly Gay supervisor) and the coordination of the parade route required six colored bands go down six streets. The elimination of indigo was the most practical.
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Name : Chuck A., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 41, City : Spring Hill, State : WV, Country : United States, Occupation : AIDS Educator/Part-time radio announcer,The Rainbow Flag, representing diversity in the gay community, was designed by a San Francisco artist in 1978. Originally 8 stripes, for simple logistical reasons it was redesigned with 6, each representing an attribute (Red-life, Orange-healing, Yellow-sun, Green-nature, Blue-art, Violet-spirit). There is no ‘ownership’ of the word ‘rainbow’ in the gay community. You will recall that Jesse Jackson founded the Rainbow Coalition, a group emphasizing racial diversity in social change, and not directly connected to gays and lesbians (although they may participate in its functions, I presume).
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Name : Doug25635, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Phoenix, State : AZ, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrator, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The rainbow flag, a symbol of pride in diversity, was invented by a gay man and has been adopted by many as the symbol of our pride in being gay.
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Name : Megan-L21933, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 31, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States,Kathy, check out the following link for the history of the gay-identified rainbow flag: http://www.naxs.com/people/nightlife/flag.htm The rainbow colors and the Human Rights Campaign’s ‘=’ sign are the ways that lots of us mark our vehicles to identify ourselves.
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Name : Mark Bentley, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : UFMCC - Cathedral of Hope, Age : 39, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Financial analyst, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,The word ‘Rainbow’ does not have any specific connotations, but the symbol of striped colors stands for diversity, and represents gay, lesbiean, or bi-sexual awareness. A rainbow flag, ribbon, or button may signify its bearer supports or is a member of an alternative sexual orientation.
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Name : Ashley23520, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 15, City : Berkeley, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class,It comes from the introduction of the Rainbow Flag by Gilbert Baker in 1978. See this link for more information: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/scotts/bulgarians/rainbow-flag.html
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Name : D.W.M., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 40, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Technical, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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