this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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I can maybe explain - blue is traditionally a color that is associated with boys, pink is a color that is traditionally associated with girls, white is a full spectrum color that represents the gender diversity outside those two.
Obviously the idea isn't to limit people to boxes but making a simple yet commonly understandable sign that represents something as complex as gender identity can be quite tricky so compromises tend to be made.
Also, weren't you the person that said:
So then can I ask why did you think comparing trans people to rats led by a piped piper was the way to engage the community if your goal was to promote understanding and inclusivity?
I didn't compare trans people to rats - only likened their actions of those who dance around this flag. And can you think of a better analogy? Rats are pretty awesome and intelligent creatures by the way. Just because they got some bad publicity over the plague which may or may not have been fake news.
Why would people tell trans people "this is your flag" if not for commercial reasons?
I think the GLBTQ community is unfortunately being very exploited at the moment - with social media being the main driver - not all attention is good attention. I was even listening to Skin from Skunk Anansie say the same the other week (gay black singer) compared to the 90s.
Your words create images and those can be more powerful than the meaning you may or may not intend behind them - so a better analogy would have been something like moths to a flame, which both would fit better the concept of being drawn to something and would have avoided the likening of people with rats that are being led to drown in a river (and rats like trans people are pretty cool and don't deserve to be killed en masse)
I'd ask in return which people do you think are telling trans people that it's their flag? The flag was created in the 90s by a trans person and then got picked up by other trans people since they liked it enough.
Still, are there massive issues with rainbow capitalism and the commercialization of everything? (like ikea and the blåhaj in this very post?) Absolutely. And yes in the current climate trans (and generally queer) visibility (as eg. Lily Alexander points out) can indeed be quite dangerous.
Does this mean we should reject any and all "solidarity" from them? I don't think so, as in I'd much rather capitalists cater to queer folk (even if we know it's all just bottom line thinking) than not consider us at all - while we collectively stay aware as to why they're doing it (also as we've seen they make really good canaries for when fascists show up and all the pink washing gets bleached)
Also to me it does appear that it's working - most trans folk I know are against this - sure you'll still get some that will become brand enjoyers/defenders but you'll also notice how Lemmy as a left-leaning vocally anti-capitalist space is teeming with LGBTQ people - those are not just coincidences.
So yeah we both agree that there is a pervasive undercurrent that is exploiting queer (and het) people - and had you come in good faith commenting how you think ikea is exploiting the meme and the community to make more money I doubt you'd have gotten the same reception - but the way you phrased it you made it seem like it's trans people's fault for being exploited - instead we should focus on capitalism as the root cause and how we come together for the liberation of everyone instead of infighting over whose flag is more commercialized.
Tbh, no analogy would be necessary, because the issue isn't only the comparison to some animal (neither rat nor moth is a very nice animal to be compared to), but the issue is the direct meaning of the analogy:
Both the rats being led by the pied piper and the moths attracted to the flame are mindlessly attracted by something that will kill them.
Compare that to people rallying behind symbols to further a cause. That's something entirely different. They rally voluntarily to that symbol. They unite to have strength in numbers to push the change they want to see.
And this is also in itself the answer: It's not about the exact design of the flag (though it does have symbolism in it) but it's about the meaning. You can convey a lot with just a few stripes of color if the meaning is well-known. If you had to spell out everything that is meant by waving that flag, it would have to be a small essay. Not exactly something you can just hang from a window or a flag pole.
You did, and trying to hide behind allusion or allegory makes you seem like an idiot bigot instead of just a bigot