8 Hopeful Things for Pride
A picture of the original Pride flag sewn by Gilbert Baker in 1978
By Geoff Davies
Do you know the Pride flag? Chances are you do. But how well do you know it?
The rainbow flag lives up to its name with its distinctive multi-coloured look. Most commonly it has six colours (one less than the seven colours of that thing in the sky with a pot of gold at either end): red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
Each of these were ascribed a meaning, symbolically: life, healing, sunlight, nature, harmony and spirit.
Originally, it had two more—hot pink (representing sex) and turquoise (for magic, or art)—for a total of eight.
Recently, some versions of the flag have gone back to those roots, with the addition of a bar each for black (representing diversity) and brown (for inclusivity).
It’s a flag that’s huge in impact, and rich with meaning.
Eight meanings to be precise, each with a new perspective to offer. To celebrate them all, and to offer you something special—and positive—to mark Pride Month, we made this for you: eight true stories to stir hope, spread love, and share hope for the future.
Love — The NFL’s First Active, Openly Gay Player
Normalize being gay and having a body. Normalize being gay and using it for sports. LGBTQ2S+ representation in athletics matters at all levels. Especially with the Olympics around the corner, it matters all the more at the elite level. As Next Gen Men, carrying a focus as we do on male-dominated spaces—head spaces included—we’re curious how NFL players and fans of all genders are responding to the news. As for Carl Nassib, talk about courage. (And shout out to Michael Sam too, our trailblazer from the CFL!)
Life — Elliot Page
Talk about courage. Talk about platform. The Nova Scotian actor has become one of the most visible trans persons on the planet, if not in history. It’s not every day that celebrity snaps by the pool are what we want to shout from the rooftops, but when Elliot Page showed us how comfortable and happy he was in his skin, it was not paparazzi but pure social impact.
Healing — LGBTQ+ Elders
The growing intergenerationality of the 2SLGBTQ+ movement is a great reason to get excited about the future of Pride. What we can learn from each other, and what those who have gone before can show us—through their example, as well as through their words and deeds—is an invaluable resource. For those reasons, we’re reflecting on the life of Robina Asti, the ex-fighter pilot who recently died at age 99 after decades ‘living as a woman” (before we understood what trans was) with her dearly loved husband. And grateful for this couple, Jack Baker and Michael McConnell, the first legally married gay couple in the U.S., who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. So stick that in your pipe and normalize it.
Sunlight — Cracks in the Darkness in a Record Year
In the U.S. we have seen several State legislatures pass laws to keep trans kids out of sports, despite what the science has to say in support of trans youth, making for what media reports have called “a record year for anti-trans legislation.” While it hasn’t been a good year in the relationship between courts of law and trans kids who need the protection of our societies the most, there is still reason for hope.
As the Olympics approach, the story of one parent-child relationship in the elite-level sport of canoe racing, where a young Canadian woman heading to compete as part of the first group of women to do so at the Olympics, will be joined by her father, who will be going as an Olympic judge—and, in another historic first, as the first trans judge. “I’m proud to go,” said daughter Haley Daniels of her family’s double-firsts. “But I am so proud of my dad, because I think it’s so much harder to go through what she’s gone through.”
Nature – Siding with the Rights of Trans Youth
In the U.K. there has been this case around puberty blockers evolving over recent years. The U.K’s public healthcare system, the National Health Service (NHS), has a centre delivering what they call ‘Gender Identity Development Service,’ and a controversy arose over a study conducted there on puberty blockers, and how youth can “feel less worried about growing up in the wrong body and [have] more time and space to think about [their] gender identity.” Though a court ruling late last year left doubt about the access youth would have to this treatment, saying youth would be “unlikely to be able to consent” to it. A new ruling this spring though leaves room for greater hope, saying that “loving parents” can consent in their place.
Art – Lil Nas X
By inverting the tired, medieval ‘you’re going to hell’ trope with the idea of giving the Devil a lap dance, Lil Nas X made a powerful statement. He also made powerful art, on a level as worthy of an art gallery as of Instagram. As a Black queer star and as a young artist with years of creativity still to offer the world, Lil Nas X represents both a reason to be hopeful about what the pop cultural landscape is capable of, and to be excited to listen to it.
Spirit – Two-Spirit Stories & Leadership
Chances are, in the 1990s or even later, many of us had no concept of two-spirit as an identity, or awareness of the people it represents. One good cause for hope: the leadership of Brent Bissaillon, of the Serpent River First Nation, for whom they serve as two-spirit Chief. Explaining the role: “I’m like the mayor, but I’m not the mayor. But I’m also like the premier, but I’m not the premier. And I’m like the prime minister, but I’m not the prime minister,” says Brent. “So I just say I’m the queen.”
Harmony – Access to Top Surgery
There’s loads of hope to be found as well in this story, of a person who is feeling more and more at home in their body. Hopefully there are many more stories like it, and hopefully access to top surgery—the procedure to remove breasts and bring the bodies of trans men in line with their lived identity—only grows and grows.
From the Future of Masculinity weekly newsletter, where our community’s hearts and minds come together each week to do the work, tell the stories, and build the blueprint for a future where men and boys experience less pain and cause less harm. Written by Next Gen Men Copywriter and Content Strategist Geoff Davies.