Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Trans Community, Don't Repeat The GL Community Mistake About The US Flag

http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2011/06/trans-community-dont-repeat-gl.html (http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2011/06/trans-community-dont-repeat-gl.html)
6/14/11
Monica Roberts

The transgender pride flag was conceived by Monica Helms when she lived in Phoenix, AZ and was first flown at a pride parade in that city in 2000.

The flag that represents the trans community consists of five horizontal stripes.  Two light blue ones, two pink ones and a white stripe in the center.

o/////o sorry for the rant, I've been seperated from my SO too long and haven't ranted enough about anarchy and oppression

tl;dr


I don't want to mix patriotism with struggles for liberation just because challenging the state and the militant conservative moral crusade is slurred as "un-patriotic." That is a problem with the state and the majority voting public, not something I should adjust to, just to appeal to more bigots and oppressors. I don't need to feign patriotism, and pretend I'm just like the voting majority, in order to remove several oppressions for those in the trans community that mainstream heteronormative, cissexist voters can accept as "just like them." Mainstream LGB political groups/pressures try to blend and assimilate to grovel for human disgnity and equal treatment. I won't leave parts of my identity and my community in the dust to appeal to bigots. I will not assimilate or erase to allow for political compromise with oppressive leaders.

As an anarchist, I am also more specifically perturbed by coupling statism and liberation struggles. Why is this necessary? Sure, flying an American flag in of itself isn't alienating to most people. But why does a universal issue need to be paired with nationalism, patriotism, and statism? I like that it's not, that at least in this small symbolic way trans liberation struggles are not paired with a specific culture, political affiliation, or ability to assimilate to the standards of bigots.

I don't live in a symbol obscessed society. Here, anyone trying to use the Union flag as any sort of symbol would be assumed to have a racist message.

But there is an old addage that might be relevant here. Don't kick your own team.

The problems are caused by some who seek to attack self expression and relationships. But attacking the whole team would seem to be a bit short sighted.

I have to agree with Spacial here.  Despite the upsurge in recent years a lot of people still feel it's sort of "unAustralian" to fly the flag too often,  in case you are thought of as big-noting yourself.   :laugh:   

I think that Americans use that flag in a different way.  You'll find just as many of them at a Hell's Angels run as you will at a Tea Party gathering.  Sure the Christian Right uses it, but the Grateful Dead always flew it from the audience left sound tower, used an American Beauty rose as one of their symbols and had red, white and blue as a pretty consistent color scheme.  Remember there is no national language here, no state religion or belief, no one race, creed, national origin or shared beginning.  It's used as a symbol of unity, and at times defiance.  That's why the Dead and the HA use it, as part of saying "We're American too."  Which I think is the point of the article.

And the Aussies ought to stand down on this one, they may not fly the Australian flag, but they sure love that Southern Cross as a symbol.  Same difference.