In the earlier days of the LGBTQIA+ movement, the full diversity of the people in it wasn’t as well known as today – and its events and groups often had ‘gay and lesbian’ in the title. Thus the rainbow flag, designed by a gay man, was largely seen as a gay and lesbian flag. Gradually over time the rainbow has been used more to represent the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole, so this new flag was created specifically for gay men in 2019. Its stripes stand for:
- Turquoise & green colours: community, healing, joy
- White: gender nonconforming and trans men
- Blue & purple colours: love, fortitude, diversity
Bear
In gay men’s culture, bear is an identity generally used by men of a larger body size and with more body hair – often also facial hair. It’s sometimes associated with a ‘rugged masculinity’ in how they behave and present themselves.
The Bear Brotherhood pride flag was created in 1995 by Craig Byrnes. It includes a bear paw, and its shades of brown, beige, white, grey and black represent the fur colours of many different species of bear.
Events
- Harvey Milk Day (commemorating the first openly gay man elected to local government in California) : 22 May