Rainbows: Should They Stay or Should They Go?

The latest front in the culture wars...

The Rainbow wars are here. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated as part of the SAFE Roads Initiative that “Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork. Today I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions.”

Florida subsequently jumped on board. “A statement from the Florida Department of Transportation said the agency has a duty to ensure the safety and consistency of public roadways and transportation systems. That means ensuring our roadways are not utilized for social, political, or ideological interests.”

Now my town of Key West is in an uproar over the removal of the rainbow colored crosswalks at Petronia and Duval.

Both Federal and State government attempted to justify the order based on safety. Please don’t lie. The Key West rainbow crosswalks are safe. Obvious smokescreens anger everyone and solve nothing. Because the motive was purposely obscured, people have given voice to their own assumptions resulting in unnecessary controversy.

A more honest approach is to say tax dollars should not be used to promote political, ideological or religious symbols on public property whether it is local, state or federal. Why should we increase the polarization in our communities with rainbows or thin blue lines on public property, symbols that mean different things to different people.

The rainbow flag is particularly divisive because its symbolism has changed significantly since its inception. To understand how, historical perspective is required.

The first handsewn rainbow flag was displayed during the 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco. This brief history explains: “At the request of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, Gilbert Baker was commissioned to create an image of pride for the gay community.” When Harvey Milk was assassinated, many adopted it as a symbol of the gay community’s fight for equality. For practical reasons the flag was redesigned in 1979 with six stripes and was mass produced.

Curiously each pride flag history reviewed on page one of google search, including the one above, imply the flag represented the LGBTQ+ community from its creation. How can this be true when the LGB did not add T until the 2000s?

For example, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which claims to be the “nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization” was focused on the civil rights of lesbians and gay men in its early years. In this 2014 article, Chad Griffin then president of HRC, explained his initial involvement around 2003:

“This was also the time when HRC was discussing adding the "T" in "LGBT" to its mission statement, and after attending a few events I decided to join the local steering committee. I don't know if I was the first trans person they had on board, but it certainly seemed like it, based on the general lack of knowledge about trans issues. I wasn't surprised, because efforts by the trans community to join with the gay community in pushing for inclusive anti-discrimination protections had been very difficult and only occasionally successful over the previous decade. I understood where HRC's self-interest lay, as their membership was mostly gay and their money was almost entirely gay, so I kept to myself and spoke out only when asked.”

Since 2003, a review of HRC’s annual reports shows their efforts have gradually shifted from civil rights issues for gay men and lesbians towards promotion of TQ+. These efforts accelerated after Obama was elected who pushed sex change mainstream with administrative and executive orders.

There has been a corresponding shift in the rainbow flag since 1979. The Philadelphia version was introduced in 2017: “the city of Philadelphia adopted an additional 2 stripes to the Pride flag. Black and brown were added at the top of the flag to represent the struggles and prejudices that queer people of color face regularly.”

The “progress pride flag” was released in 2018. It “added a chevron to the hoist of the traditional 6-color flag which represents marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color, those living with HIV/AIDS and those who’ve been lost, and trans and nonbinary persons.”

In 2021 the “intersex inclusive progress pride flag” was designed. “The intersex community uses the colors purple and yellow as an intentional counterpoint to blue and pink, which have traditionally been seen as binary, gendered colors. The symbol of the circle represents the concept of being unbroken and being whole, symbolizing the right of Intersex people to make decisions about their own bodies.”

As the LBGTQ+ community created new genders/sexes the number of pride flags also increased. Below is a sampling with the year created, if known. Note the first gender-based rainbow flag appeared in 1999 with a dramatic increase after 2010.

· 1978 - Gay pride flag

· 1979 - Modified gay pride flag

· 1989 - Gay leather pride flag

· 1995 - Gay bear brotherhood pride flag

· 1995 - Rubber pride flag (kink)

· 1998 - Bisexual pride flag

· 1995 - Polyamory pride flag

· 1999 - Drag feather pride flag

· 1999 - Lesbian pride flag, revised 2018 for gender nonconformity etc

· 1999 - Transgender pride flag

· 2008 - Lipstick lesbian pride flag or 2010

· 2010 - Asexual pride flag

· 2010 - Demisexual pride flag

· 2010 - Pansexual pride flag

· 2011 - Genderqueer pride flag

· 2012 - Genderfluid pride flag

· 2012 - Polysexual pride flag

· 2013 - Abrosexual pride flag

· 2013 - Androgyne pride flag

· 2013 - Intersex pride flag

· 2013 - Graysexual pride flag

· 2014 - Agender pride flag

· 2014 - Nonbinary pride flag

· 2015 - Demiboy pride flag

· 2015 - Demigirl pride flag

· 2015 - Omnisexual pride flag

· 2015 - Pangender pride flag

· 2015 - Queer pride flag, 2015

· 2015 - Trigender pride flag, 2015

· 2016 - Butch lesbian pride flag

· 2016 - Drag pride flag

· 2016 - Hijra Flag

· 2016 - Two-spirit pride flag

· 2017 – Philadelphia pride flag

· 2018 – Progress pride flag

· 2020 - Questioning pride flag

· 2021 – Intersex inclusive progress pride flag

· Aromantic pride flag

· Bigender pride flag

· Demigender pride flag

· Genderflux pride flag

· Maverique pride flag

· Neutrois pride flag

· Puppy pride flag (kink)

· Straight ally pride flag

The patterns are obvious. Rainbows and the legislative efforts of HRC and similar organizations have unmistakably shifted from LGB to T. They relentlessly promote curriculum in schools, corporations and government to entrench their theory that sex is a social construct and can be changed at will (with a little help from Big Pharma). Among other efforts, the rainbow warriors have successfully lobbied many jurisdictions to ban an examination of existing mental health conditions before “gender affirming care” is initiated. They attempt to block recent state laws that affirm the sex binary, ban the sexual mutilation of minors, and prohibit men from playing in women’s sports.

This is a long way from equality for gay men and lesbians.

The rainbow now says kids should be taught they might be born in the wrong body and sell them drugs and surgery when they listen. The rainbow stands for ignoring existing mental illness and immediately “affirm” at any age. The rainbow signifies support for the legal wedge that has been driven between parents and children in progressive states like California. The rainbow also says it’s just fine to sell thousands of cross sex hormones annually to young adults without a mental health evaluation.

Gender theory and all its rainbow flags encourage the splintering of society into an endless number of victim groups. A rainbow flag is therefore another symbol of victim/oppressor ideology that has undermined our culture.

Most frightening of all, the rainbow is the symbol of a dystopian future. Jennifer Bilek has followed the massive money that has pushed gender ideology on society. Her latest article, “Beyond “Gender Critical”: Ending the Erosion of the Sex Binary”, offers a theory worthy of consideration: “From the beginning, it has been a commercial marketing, and eugenics effort to sever humanity from its biological roots and to reimagine human reproduction through the lens of technological control.” Before rejecting this theory, note eugenics has already made a comeback. “Beware the New Eugenics” by Joel Kotkin is a good starting point as is a discussion of designer babies as outlined by Charles Camosy in “We’ve Seen Designer Babies Before, The Pagans Optimized their Offspring”.

Eugenics is the opposite of “inclusion”. Victimhood promotes inequality. Harming children’s health is not “protection”. The rainbow flag has sadly become a lie.

For years, most of us have viewed the rainbow crosswalks at Duval and Petronia as a colorful addition and a worthy symbol. No longer. It’s meaning has been corrupted by a twisted ideology and many do not want their tax dollars to support such a message. The only way to manage this situation is to ban all political, ideological and religious messaging from public streets. Hopefully the government will be more honest next time. Straightforward communication will help reduce not enflame controversy.

After much research into the transgender campaign, I predicted years ago that there would be a backlash to the LGB community for adding T ideology. It has come. I am sorry for the LGB community, but they allowed their message to be co-opted by a completely unrelated ideology that seeks to dehumanize us. That was a serious miscalculation.

Now the rainbows must go.

Notes:

· Please understand that gender dysphoria is a real and potentially debilitating condition. Prior to widespread marketing of gender theory and the medicalization embodied in “gender affirming” care, there had always been a very small number of children, mostly prepubescent boys, who developed persistent gender dysphoria. Depending on the study between 61% - 98% became comfortable with their sex after puberty without social affirmation, sex change drugs and surgery. We do not know what causes this condition. Some suggest mental illness; some suggest it is an environmental factor that impacted the embryo. That is a discussion for another time. The key point is that those who have spent countless dollars eroding the sex binary, have used this population to launch gender ideology into society. Our compassion for those who experience this condition has been used as an accelerant.

· There are groups composed of lesbian and gay men who oppose “the sexualization, indoctrination and mutilation of children under the guise of radical “LGBTQIA+” activism.” The full mission statement of Gays Against Groomers is worthwhile reading. A search for gay advocacy groups who oppose lumping TQ+ under the LGB umbrella results in a slew of pro TQ+ information. When I find them all, it will be interesting to ask these groups if they still support the rainbow flag.

· Note that I use the words sex and gender interchangeably because I do not agree with John Money’s theory that gender is a social construct and distinct from biological sex. Note gender theorists have twisted even Money’s message in recent years. They now declare that sex itself is fluid and humans are not binary. Their theory is undermined for many reasons, but the glaring contradiction is that “gender affirming care” is essentially binary in nature. Details on John Money, often credited as being the father of gender ideology, are included in a previous article entitled “Beliefs, Biases and Bad Ideas”.

· Perhaps as it becomes clear that underlying mental health issues don’t magically disappear with “gender affirming care”, the medical institutions will realize they were conned and return to a more nuanced approach to treatment. It is insane to prescribe serious sex change drugs with the potential of intense side effects without consideration of underlying mental health conditions. We also must stop teaching young people they can change their sex because the numbers suggest that it is primarily the vulnerable kids and young adults with preexisting mental conditions who are being influenced.

· The propaganda efforts surrounding TQ+ are astounding. Do your own search of the history of the rainbow flag and see how the history implies the flag has always represented LGBTQ+. That is simply untrue. Also note how every TQ+ controversy tries to hide under the generally accepted LGB flag. Conversion therapy is a good example of this strategy and will be the subject of a future blog. The propaganda suggests conversion therapy bans for LGB people are the same as for TQ+. They are not. The Supreme Court will take up a case on conversion therapy this fall.

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