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Goth Pride, Inclusivity, and the Rainbow

Goth Pride, Inclusivity, and the Rainbow

Not all queers love the pride flag–including self-described vampire goth Darkness Vlad Tepes, from Lancashire, England, who is campaigning to add a black stripe to represent the gothic community, according to New Now Next.

Similar movements over the past two years have developed across the globe, as people fight to add more all-encompassing colors to the flag – such as, black and brown to represent people of color. While the argument from Tepes may be less serious than the issues brought up about race inclusion, it brought the whole debate back to the surface again.

Last year, Philadelphia’s campaign, More Color More Pride, added these colors in honor of Pride Month – raising the new flag outside of City Hall. This public demonstration addressed the racism and discrimination that has long been terrorizing people of color within the city’s queer bar scene. Other places such as Melbourne, Australia followed suit.

More Color More Pride from Storyfarm on Vimeo.

Despite these recent battles to create a more inclusive pride symbol, these modifications have failed to gain public attention and support. Today, the queer community continues to be represented by a flag that lacks colors representative of a diverse and intersectional community. Originally created in 1978, Gilbert Baker created the emblem to reflect the spectrum of colors in nature and symbolize unity within the gay community.

However, forty-years later there have been various changes within the LGBTQ social climate–and more queers want their representation.

Tepes explains, “Very few goths are ever seen in the gay community, but when they are they are not always welcomed due to their dark gothic fashion. It’s easy to see that the current colors in the gay flag don’t really represent the gothic community. With a black stripe, we will be treated as equals within the gay community.”

This request for acceptance highlights the LGBTQ movement’s internal conflict and echoes the long-standing argument that queer culture lacks diversity. Of course, the struggle people presenting as goth or alternative face is a far cry from what people of color face. But it does serve to underscore the fact that the flag has largely been seen as an icon for those who fit the mold.

Since 1978, the pride flag has been continuously white-washed and heavily used by a specific population–white, gay men. But as the fight for equality, civil rights, and progress endures, the erasure of non-white queers from the community is problematic and misguided.

In response to Philadelphia’s alteration of the iconic flag, many white, queer men scrutinized this decision as disrespectful and racist–and requested for a white stripe to be added alongside the new brown and black colors.

Similarly, Tepes’ attempt in England prompted backlash.

“We wish the gay goth community well, but our view is that the rainbow flag already reflects the full diversity of LGBTQ people,” responded Nigel Evans, a Lancashire LGBTQ charity representative. “We do not need to add further colors to differentiate gay goths.”

Silly as it may be, the effort fueled by Darkness Vlad Tepes, whether successful or not, adds visibility to the fact that the flag is not all-inclusive. The fact remains that black is an outlier color, often used to represent people who, for some reason or another, don’t fit the status quo. Keeping the flag rainbow may make some happy, but others feel it excludes those outliers.

As small movements such as this gain momentum, they give hope to fringe groups within the LGBTQ community and queers of color that their voices are important and essential to the progress of ending discrimination.

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