newbi offended peoples

[RainbowBright]

on the weekend i went to an event that is held yearly here in calgary. it is called Taboo - the naughty but nice sex show. i wanted to show my pride and support for people of the gay/lesbian/bisexual community so i made myself a rainbow berrette witch i pined to my shirt. i thought that i was doing something nice but i got a lot of really dirty looks. i went to the show with a fellow bisexual friend and my husband. i think that the dirty looks are because the rainbow symbol is for gay/lesbian community only and i appologise if i upset anyone.. i really didnt mean to. i am really new to things (out for only a couple of months) and really didnt know the protocal on such things. reading some of your posts has given me some insight into things and i found out that the bisexual community has its own bi pride symbol. it is a relief to know that hopefully i wont offend anyone again.

Thanks for listening

RainbowBright :tong:

[wanderingrichard]

kno what? don't sweat it! they'll get over it.. and yeah we do have our own pride symbols.. matter of fact they were mentioned in another forum here not long ago.. with hyperlinks to get you to them..

still, don't let the dirty looks and stuff get to you.. you were trying to do the right thing and instead of discriminating against you for being with men at the event, or criticising you for displaying the "wrong colors" [ omg! she's not pc! look out we have a heathen among us!] they should have tried to help you. so, the offense is theirs , not yours.. let them get over it, you keep learning and being you..

[Damon]

Thats correct Richard.. The offense was theirs..

Do what you do RainbowBright and dont worry about anything in the process.. You put in the effort, you showed consideration.. you've done your part :)

[usedbear1950]

I'm a newbi also Rainbow...to this life style but not to life. Your're heart is in the right place. Political Correctness is just a layer that prejudiced people hide themselves in. Believe and practice what you believe as long as it does not hurt others. "Dance as if no one is watching...Sing as if no one is listening".
I also am learning as I'm going, but I've been doing that for 55 yrs. and you'll know to send flowers when I stop learning.
:)

[kittles555]

You don't have to be gay or lesbian to wear a rainbow!!! Christ, you can be straight and wear it if you want to show support - I don't understand the dirty looks. I mean, we WANT the straight community to support us right? why do we need seperate symbols for each identity - don't we want to show the world that we're all alike?

[biboxers]

Some confused Bi's consider themselves to be "straight". With reasons like " I dont kiss other guys" etc...

[bediddle]

Ridiculous. The rainbow flag is meant as a symbol of diversity and inclusivness. Anyone who would look down on you for displaying it is showing a blatant lack of understanding of the purpose of this symbol.

Don't even give it a second thought.

[Lorcan]

I think that the rainbow is for all people GLBT (gay lesbian bi and transgender). Basically rainbow = queer. The bi colors just specify which type of queer we are. I recently made myself a rainbow bracelet with Bi colored beads on it.

Never mind the dirty looks. If it makes them mad then maybe they will start to deal with it.

[monkeypankey]

seems daft, as some of the other people have said the rainbow is about iinclusiveness - the different colours represent different sexual orientations including straight and bi - dont get put off! ;)

[RedOak2005]

"Politically Correct" i.e. "pc" ; Well, I'm sure we've all been amazed at the direct honesty of most politicians or those behaving in a political way to some end. So, is the phrase an oxymoron?

My 2-cents' worth? Glad you asked! "Put the problem with the person who has the problem." If someone has a problem with a rainbow hat, (or the live otter I sometimes attach to my collar) ... whatever ... they should figure out what to do about their problem or let it go. It's not the problem of the person wearing the hat, (or otter) no matter what their motives.

Free speech - free expression - use it or lose it.

:2cents:

[Ratchick]

From what my understanding of the rainbow flag history/origins, is that at one time it included colors like the Bi colors and even black and peach. Over time they simplified it. I saw it in some stonewall/queer history special.

What I say to those folks who gave you dirty looks is: Get a grip!

ANY support is good support and it is not unheard of for Bisexual people to waer rainbow pride colors.

Waer your rainbow barette and tell all those who give you a bad look to go fly.

Hugs,
RC

[SweetBlackAngel]

I think that the rainbow is for all people GLBT (gay lesbian bi and transgender). Basically rainbow = queer. The bi colors just specify which type of queer we are. I recently made myself a rainbow bracelet with Bi colored beads on it.

Never mind the dirty looks. If it makes them mad then maybe they will start to deal with it.

Nicely said! I have rainbow stuff, too. And I love the word "queer." It just....fits. Now, I just need to find some bi pride stuff. :bipride:

[bigregory]

Give them a BITCH slap then walk away :bipride:

[bigregory]

How to make a flag....scroll down for history of bi flag.
bigregory is not "I"
...In designing the Bi Pride Flag, I selected the colors and overlap pattern of the "bi angles" symbol. I selected, which to me, is the most attractive combination of pink, purple and blue. In flag-maker parlance this is magenta - PMS 226 (pink), lavender - PMS 258 (purple) and royal - PMS 286 (blue). I decided to make the top of the flag pink and would give it 40% of the vertical dimension. Purple, which is the resultant color when you overlap pink and blue, would be the middle stripe and would be 20% of the dimension. The lower 40% would be blue.

For digital graphics, the following are the RGB values:
214 (red) 2 (green) 112 (blue) making the pink.
155 (red) 79 (green) 150 (blue) making the purple.
0 (red) 56 (green) 168 (blue) making the blue.
For web designers, that works out to:
#D60270 (pink), #9B4F96 (purple) and #0038A8 (blue).
For printing:
Use the CMYK values your graphic program selects for each of the PMS keys indicated above. Or provide your printer with the PMS keys instead.The History of the Bi Pride Flag
by Michael Page.

The first Bi Pride Flag was unveiled on Dec 5, 1998. The intent and purpose of the flag is to maximize bisexual pride and visibility. This bi flag is for free public and commercial use.

As a result of volunteer work I was doing for BiNet USA, it occurred to me that if bi people were going to be visible at home, pride events and political rallies, we needed a Bi Pride Flag!

At that time, there were, in my opinion, no suitable bisexual icons that were colorful or prominent enough to gain instant and long lasting recognition as a flag. At the time, there were bi angles - an inverted double triangle, the bi symbol - a 3 looped symbol, and various shaped symbols created to represent local groups of bi people.

There is no question that bi people have helped foster the gay and lesbian movement we have witnessed since the Stonewall riots of 1969. One problem for bisexuals remains their invisibility. This was also a problem for gays and lesbians prior to 1969 as very few were willing to "come out".

In 1978, Gilbert Baker of San Francisco, who I personally met in Italy at World Pride 2000, created the Rainbow Flag. Each color held it's own meaning and was intended to represent diversity of the gay and lesbian community. The effective mass visibility of this icon is indisputable.

Based on my own personal experience, the vast majority of bi people I have spoken with, feel no connection to the rainbow flag, the pink triangle, the black triangle, the Lambda symbol or the double-edged hatchet. These symbols are viewed as gay and lesbian icons, which was their initial intent. Search the history of the rainbow flag on the Internet and you will see what I mean.

It is my belief that bi people need their own flags and symbols to rally around. I believe GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) People need to work together, but also need to uphold their own unique component of the GLBT equation.

I


SYMBOLISM:

The pink color represents sexual attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian), the blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only (straight) and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi). The key to understanding the symbolism in the Bi Pride Flag is to know that the purple pixels of color blend unnoticeably into both the pink and blue, just as in the 'real world' where most bi people blend unnoticeably into both the gay/lesbian and straight communities.

The Bi Pride Flag is the only bisexual symbol not patented, trademarked or service marked. Please use the exact PMS colors listed above. If we are going to be effective with this flag, we need to be consistent with our colors. This flag continues to be distributed on a global scale through www.BiPrideStore.com , many leading pride wholesale companies, and many family owned pride stores. In it's short history, the Bi Pride Flag has been visible in many important GLBT events world-wide. A few of these events may be seen above under Bi Events Photos .






Image - Bi Pride Flag at the Ft. Lauderdale GLCC.

[bluewatermoth]

i'm out as bi to practically all who won't have a heart attack about it (like my grandmother, lol), and i wear the rainbow all the time.

shame on anyone from the gay community who would look down on someone because of their sexual orientation. talk about hypocrisy. the entire glbtq community should stick together instead of acting like someone always has to be better than everyone else.

ok...i'm venting over something personal there. sorry if i stopped making sense.