Ask A Gay
in
Dear Ask A Gay,
Why did the gay community adopt the rainbow as its symbol?
Jeannie Melnick, 19
Jeannie – I am so glad you asked. Grab a seat because this is a fascinating "fairy" tale. Long, long ago in a land called San Francisco, gay men frolicked about the Bay Area on coke and roller skates. Actually, they were called homosexuals back then, and I'm not sure if lesbians had been invented yet. Everyone lived in peace and harmony, doing hair and arranging flowers. Their queen, a fabulous creature named Troy spread peace and disco across the land.
Side note: Disco was a popular music genre in 1970s. Here's a little help from our friends at Wikipedia: The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or sixteenth note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line sometimes consisting of octaves. Strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies.
Oooo lush quaver flute, I just got chills.
One lovely summer day, perfect for ill-fitting tank tops and clever graphic t's, a dark cloud rolled in. This cloud was the religious right. They had come to San Francisco to ruin everything fun and carefree. Troy, sensing a disturbance in the force, organized all the elders; Bob, Gary, Rick, Steve and La'Shawn. After many hours, they emerged with a plan to stand up against this eminent threat.
As every gay man knows, great marketing and branding can convince anyone to do anything. They needed a symbol, something to bring the whole community together in its quest for fabulousness against all things ignorant.
Now Troy was very fond of two things: collectable china and toy poodles. Upon returning from the meeting, his two poodles had not only soiled the shag carpet (not an important detail), but also knocked down a collection of Silverscreen Moments saucers (important detail). As Troy bent down to scold Mitzy and Chanel, he noticed that bits and pieces of the saucers had formed a spectrum of colors, a rainbow.
