The acronym LGBTQ is used for people with different sexual preferences. But before this term, the acronym LGBT was used. Since the 1990s different types of this term were formed to accommodate the need to define people’s expressions of gender and s*xuality. At first, the term LGB was used to mean lesbian, gay, and bis*xual.
Today the LGBTQ acronym is not a collection of letters but it represents different types of identities. There is a lot of history behind this term. It tells the story of the modern American Gay Civil Rights Movement. Further, it reminds the LGBTQ community of the victories that took a long to come for them. They think that there are still a lot of things to do. Here you can find the history of the LGBTQ and also the meaning of LGBTQ pride flags.
What does the LGBTQ acronym stand for?
In the LGBTQ, the T stands for the transgender. The first three letters of the acronym LGB denote the sexual identity of the people who are lesbian, gay and bisexual. But the transgender refers to the people whose gender identity changes after their birth. They may have been born and lived as another gender but then they may have changed to another gender. But not everyone who identifies as trans may take the hormones or sex reassignment surgery to change their gender. Also, some people do not identify as one gender. They may prefer to use gender-neutral pronouns such as them and theirs.
The letter that follows the T is Q in the LGBTQ acronym. It is an umbrella term used for the representation of people who are non-cisgender and non-heterosexual. For most people, this is a derogatory term but some use it openly to identify themselves. The term Queer is used for people who are ambiguous in their sexuality. It allows people to avoid rigid boundaries to define their sexuality. They do not have a definite label like trans, lesbian or gay.
Some people add another Q in the LGBTQ acronym making it LGBTQQ. This represents people who are still on their journey to understand their sexuality. Currently, a more updated form of LGBTQ is used. It is LGBTQIA+.
The I in the acronym stands for a person “born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male,” according to the source Intersex Society of North America. Many experts believe that some specific percent of the population is born with “intersex traits”. It means their body is not male or female because they may have chromosomes that are not XX or XY. Also, their genitals or reproductive organs may not be considered standard. Meanwhile, A in the LGBTQIA+ stands for asexual. It is used to represent people who do not feel sexual attraction for any gender. Finally, the + sign is for identities that are not mentioned in the acronym and also the inclusion of all the different identities.
What is the history of the LGBTQ community?
The move to normalize the LGBTQ acronym began in the 1940s and 1950s. The term gay was colloquially used by the people to represent the person attracted to the same sex. Then the women started to use the word lesbian to differentiate themselves. So gay was used for men attracted to men and lesbian was used for women attracted to women.
In the 1990s the term bisexual was recognized as one of the gender identities. It is used to represent people who are attracted to both men and women.
What is the meaning of LGBTQ pride flags?
Many LGBTQ pride flags exist for the people of that community to identify themselves. They use it during LGBTQ Pride month and other celebrations. Throughout history, the pride flags have evolved as the people started to understand different sexualities.
Here is the list of different kinds of LGBTQ flags
Gilbert Baker Pride Flag
In 1977 a gay politician named Harvey Milk asked veteran Gilbert Baker to design a Pride flag. He said that the Queer people need something to celebrate their sexuality and love. So Gilbert Baker designed the pride flag inspired by Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow”. Each color of this flag has symbolism. The hot pink color is for sex, red is for life, orange represents healing, yellow is for sunlight, green is for nature, turquoise is for magic/art, violet is for spirit and indigo represents serenity. When the politician Milk was assassinated in 1978 the demand for this pride flag increased. Many people wanted to show support so the flag started to sell quickly.
Traditional Gay Pride Flag
This is the LGBTQ flag used primarily today by the LGBTQ community. There are six colors in this flag to symbolize different things. This rainbow-colored flag functions as the general flag for the LGBTQ+ community. But sometimes it is not considered as all-inclusive. The colors in the flag represent the different sexualities in the LGBTQ+ acronym in the same order.
Philadelphia People of Color-Inclusive Flag
The LGBTQ+ community in Philadelphia added brown and black at the top of the rainbow LGBTQ flag to spotlight queer people of color. This design of the flag was worn by Lena Waithe as a cape in Met Gala 2018. The epic cape was designed by Carolina Herrera.
QPOC Flag
This flag represents the Queer people of color. The original designer of the flag is not known but this flag shows solidarity for the BLM movement. The flag reminds people about Marsha P. Johnson who was a black drag queen. The drag queen was the person who inspired many movements. So, this flag became famous. The flag represents the spirit of unity, support and more. Some colors in the flag also represent diversity.
Progress Pride Flag
This flag takes inclusion seriously. It was designed by the Queer non-binary artist Daniel Quasar. He aimed to put more emphasis and also give deep meaning to the flag. The black and brown stripes symbolize the people of color and the people who lost their lives to AIDS. Then the white, pink and blue color represents the transgender flag. This flag is flying over the Massachusetts State House in Boston to honor the 2020 Pride Parade which was canceled.
Bisexual Flag
In 1998 Michael Page wanted to focus on the bisexual people in the LGBTQ+ community. So by overlapping the colors blue and pink that are commonly used to represent boys and girls, the color lavender was added to the flag to represent the two sexes. Similarly, there are other LGBTQ Pride Flags too for representing people attracted to more than one gender.
Pansexual Flag
This flag represents the pansexual people’s interest in all genders. The color pink in the flag represents women, blue is for men, yellow is for “nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people”. The flag was designed in 2010 to differentiate pansexuality from bisexuality.
Asexual Flag
In 2010 Asexual Visibility and Education Network shared that they wanted to have a symbol to identify themselves. Therefore, they designed the Asexual flag. The black color in the flag represents asexuality, gray is for graysexuals which is between sexual and asexual, purple is for the community.
Demisexual Flag
The Demisexual flag is part of the asexual spectrum. It has similar colors but the configuration is different. The term was created by the Asexual Visibility & Education Network in 2006. But the designer of the flag is unknown.
Lesbian Labrys Flag
This flag is not widely used by people because it was designed in 1990 by a gay man named Sean Campbell. The flag is designed with a Labrys symbol. It is a double-sided ax used by the Amazonians. Also, the black triangle was used by Nazis to represent “antisocial” individuals.
Polyamory Flag
This flag has a symbol Pi that goes on indefinitely after the decimal. So this suits people who are polyamorous. The gold color in the flag represents emotional connection not only sexual love. There is a modified version of this flag created in 2017 with infinity hearts.
Intersex Flag
Intersex International Australia created the flag to represent the people who have variations in sex characteristics. They used the non-gendered colors in the flag to celebrate people who are living outside the binary.
Transgender Pride Flag
The people who are transitioning or those who do not have neutral/any gender are represented by the white color in the transgender flag. The designer of this flag is a white trans woman named Monica Helms. The blue and pink colors in the flag are for male and female genders. No matter which way the flag is held it will always be right-side up. One of the differences in this flag is that it has a symbol to represent the transgender community. The female gender is represented by (♀) and the male is represented by (♂). Also, the genderqueer symbol is included. These symbols are transposed on the top of the stripes in the flag.
Genderfluid/Genderflexible Flag
This flag was specially designed to focus on genderfluidity. This is for people whose gender can vary. The pink color in the flag is for femininity, blue is for masculinity, white is for no gender and then the black color is for all genders. There is a purples color for a combination between masculine and feminine. The designer of this flag is JJ Poole.
Genderqueer Flag
The designer of this flag is Marilyn Roxie. It is used for the representation of the people living outside the gender binary. The lavender color of the flag is for androgeny, white is for agender, green is for nonbinary. This flag is also termed the nonbinary flag.
Lipstick Lesbian Flag
This flag is one of the controversial ones. Now it is outdated because the new version of this flag is available. This flag is designed by Natalie McCray in 2010 to celebrate lesbian femmes. But because of its non-inclusivity, many people do not use this flag.
Lesbian Flag
In 2018 a new version of the lipstick lesbian flag was released. It was simply called the lesbian flag. More colors were added in the update for making it inclusive. Now the flag represents non-conformity, independence, unique relationships to womanhood, serenity, and peace, sex, feminity, and more. The debate is still going on to add more colors.
Leather, Latex, & BDSM Flag
This flag is a topic of many discussions. Many people wonder whether kinks live within or outside of the LGBTQ+ community. It is called the leather flag and it is made by Tony DeBlase in 1989. Then it became the symbol of the kink’s community. There are many gay men in this community. The black color in the flag is used to represent leather, white is for purity, blue is for devotion and the heart is for love.
Bear Brotherhood Flag
In 1995, Craig Byrnes and Paul Witzkoske created the flag called the “bear flag”. It is a subculture that consists of masculine-presenting gay, bisexual and trans men. These men believe in embracing their masculine body, facial hair, and body hair. It is the only subculture in the community that has a flag of its own.
Rubber Pride Flag
The people of the rubber/latex fetish community use the Rubber Pride flag as their logo. This flag was created in 1995 by Peter Tolos and Scott Moats. According to them the color black for “our lust for the look and feel for shiny black rubber,” red “our blood passion for rubber and rubbermen,” and yellow “our drive for intense rubber play and fantasies”. They use the rubber as a kink.
Polysexual Flag
Polysexual is a term used for the people attracted to many but not all the genders. But it is similar to the pansexual flag. The green in the flag is for nonconforming gender, pink is for female and blue is for male. Sometimes the Polysexuality symbolizes the attraction to masculinity and feminity and not to gender. In 2012 this flag was created by Tumblr.
Agender Flag
The designers of this flag are Designer Salem X or “Ska”. It is a reversible flag that is similar to the transgender flag. It is a representation of the rejection of gender. The Green in the flag is for nonbinary and black and white are for the absence of gender.
Aromantic Flag
This flag is also for the people who are living without any romantic attraction. The gray and black colors in the flag are for aromantic sexualities.
Nonbinary Flag
The seventeen-year-old Kye Rowan created the Nonbinary flag as a symbol of genderqueer people. The yellow color in the flag is for people existing outside the gender binary. Also white is for all genders, black is for no gender and purple is for a mix of all genders.
Straight Ally Flag
This LGBTQ Pride Flag contains a combination of many symbols. The straight flag has black and white stripes and the traditional pride flag has rainbow colors. So, this flag is created to offer allyship for the LGBTQ+ community.
Conclusion
This is the history of the LGBTQ acronym. It has a lot of history behind it. It is evolved into what it is today because of the different Pride communities. The people of the community use the LGBTQ Pride Flags to identify themselves.
You may also read: What Does a Black American Flag Mean?
