Waving the Pride Flag
If you watched or read the news last month, you couldn’t miss some story about “Pride Month.” It was everywhere- all the time.
Most of the stories were about a particular event – like the fiasco on the White lawn – or parade or something with some slant on LBGTQ from a group or participant in one or more of them.
For some reason lately, whether it’s June or not, there’s nary a day that some reference or coverage of LGBTQIA+ isn’t “news.” I guess since the current administration has made a big deal about its support of it, news anchors think the general public must have a burning interest.
As old as I am, I remember when there was a “pride day” – and not a month. And it was about gays, not the expanded version of sexuality we see now. So, let’s look at a little history of the whole “pride” thing.
On June 28, 1970, the first ‘gay pride parade’ was held in New York City. Parades were also held in Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
In June 2000, President Clinton officially designated June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. An expanded name was chosen in 2009 by President Obama: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
The origins of Gay Pride Month were also honored by Obama when, in 2016, he created the Stonewall National Monument, a 7.7-acre area around NY’s Stonewall Inn where the modern gay rights movement began.
The expansion of “pride” keeps growing. First it was gays, then bisexuals and transgenders were added. Now queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and A+ are added. One needs a dictionary to know what each letter of the acronym stands for.
We’re told it’s now all about “inclusivity.” It looks to me like the gays have been hijacked. In any case that’s why the pride flag is continually updated.
In 2017, black and brown stripes were added to better represent non-white people in the ‘community.’
In 2018, a multi-colored symbol was added to the flag.
The flag then included black and brown stripes to represent marginalized LGBTQ ‘communities’ of color, along with the colors pink, light blue, and white, which are used on the “Transgender Pride Flag.”
Then, in 2021 there was “a new yellow triangle and purple circle to better represent the intersex community.
Actually, there are even entirely different “pride flags,” including flags for Bisexual Pride, Trans Pride, Lesbian Pride, Pansexual Pride, Asexual Pride, and many more.
The one most often seen now is being called the Progress Pride flag. To see it click on the link below.
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-the-colors-of-the-new-pride-flag-mean-5189173
To go along with the regularly updated flags is the updated LGBTQ term, which is currently is expanded to LGBTQIAP2S+.
The latest update is meant to include people with autism. This latest flag has a big multi-colored 8 across the rest of the flag.
If autistic people are now part of this ‘community’ one has to think: what about those with Down syndrome, Tourette’s syndrome, OCD, dementia, etc. etc.?
Where does this inclusiveness stop? What about veterans, military, dog-lovers, foodies, vegans, the obese, amputees? The list is endless.
One of the so-called big deals last month was sports teams wearing or not wearing a pride flag on their jerseys. In addition, many corporations got involved with their own work forces and support of LBGT… events and parades – “Celebrations.”
There are no hard numbers on each of the groups now represented by LGBTQIAP2S+. Best estimates are 4% of the population is gay while 0.5% is transgender. It would be even smaller percentages for the seven groups that have been added in the last 5-6 years.
But I guess if the really small minority becomes a bigger really small minority, it carries more weight somehow.
Lastly, drag shows.
The school districts and teachers that make drag shows part of the curriculum are way off base. For example, New York: the state and the city, has paid over $200,000 to drag performers for appearances in New York City public schools since 2018. In addition, NYC is currently paying a drag group for Drag Story Hour NYC in its elementary schools.
I don’t hesitate to suggest parents do not send their kids to school to be exposed to drag. I would further speculate the overwhelming parental majority has no interest in taking their children to drag shows off school campuses. I have no idea why this subject is supposedly controversial when it comes to young kids.
Most of us have no problem with the gay/transgender folks who think drag is entertainment. Just leave the rest of us, especially our kids, alone.
Most of us have no problem accepting the non-heterosexual people to have their events, parades and exploits on the White House lawn.
But why are LGBTQIAP2S+ advocates interested in going further into the rest of the culture and religious beliefs? Some kind of moral superiority?
It’s July now.
Enough.
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/pride-month
SPIDER Bites
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