Seeing a lot of misinformation flying around regarding lesbian flags this year, particularly the pin

Seeing a lot of misinformation flying around regarding lesbian flags this year, particularly the pink one, so here’s my attempt to set the record straight!FAQ/Common Misconceptions and Sources are listed below the cut - if anything in this post contradicts what you’ve heard, I’d encourage you to read through them before responding.Please DO NOT promote flag redesigns on this post :) —————————————————————– UPDATE 2 (2021):First of all, a long-overdue note that @moral-autism​ kindly transcribed the bulk of this infographic here, for anyone looking for a text-only version!Secondly, I have been contacted by @kiloueka, who created/uploaded the high resolution “Pink Flag” to the Pride-Flags DeviantArt account in 2015. They clarified that they did not independently leave out the lipstick mark to create a general lesbian flag, but had previously seen a kiss-less version in a tumblr post (likely one of the ones linked in the update below).UPDATE: New Information@deadicateddeath brought my attention to the existence of this pride flag compilation post on Tumblr, published 8 December 2013. This is now, to my knowledge, the earliest record of the pink stripes featured without the kiss mark. The same blog made another post (10 January 2014) which featured the pink flag and claimed that it was seeing use at the time.I am extremely interested to know if there is any evidence of pre-2015 use of the pink flag outside of this blog, as I was unable to find any during my research.Additionally, some people feel I have downplayed the extent of the labrys’s usage. As above, I included a note to acknowledge the prevalence of the symbols used in the labrys flag (separately and in combination), but this post is specifically focussed on flag designs, and I can’t find any indication of a labrys flag itself (whether Sean Campbell’s design, or a separate design) seeing much use pre-2015.I would be extremely interested to see any evidence of this flag being used pre-2012, something which I did hunt for but could not find. If you have any sources regarding either of these issues, please send them my way! I am 100% open to correction and clarification, provided it can be factually backed up. —————————————————————–FAQ/Common Misconceptions & Source RequestsSo… what flag should we use?My primary motivation in making this was to clear up misinformation, not to tell anyone what flag to use. Use your own judgement, even make your own if you want, just don’t get stressed out if your flag isn’t “the” flag and remember that flag colours are not the only avenue through which to show pride!The lipstick lesbian flag is an edited version of the pink flag, which is the original.There is no evidence to support this. The lipstick lesbian flag had been documented online for years prior to the pink flag, as explained above.The lipstick mark was removed to make the flag more inclusive.There’s no proof of this - as explained above, the first instance of the mark being “removed” (i.e. not included) was due to it being too complex to easily convert into a high resolution image.The pink flag is, and has always been, “the” lesbian flag.The pink flag has only been in semi-common usage since 2016, and its use is still mostly confined to younger online communities.The rainbow flag is the gay (man) flag.The rainbow flag [32] was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 to represent the LGBT community as a whole (I used his original 8-stripe design in the final panel). It does not belong exclusively to gay men, and it does represent lesbians. Please stop framing it like this:when it’s actually like this:This doesn’t mean we can’t have a specific flag for the lesbian community, but it’s not the case that we need to scramble the fill the gap left by a “missing” flag. Stop reading malice into my words… lmao.The creator of the the lipstick lesbian flag/the labrys flag is a TERF.I can’t find any information on Sean Campbell that would suggest this, and while a cursory browse through Natalie McCray’s social media did turn up some casual cissexism, nothing indicates she was a TERF. If you have sources that show otherwise, please send them my way!What is a “Lipstick Lesbian”?A feminine lesbian, and by many definitions, one who only dates other feminine lesbians. Natalie McCray’s edits to the Lipstick Lesbian Wikipedia page under the name “Nmdesigns” [7] show that she subscribed to the femme4femme definition.Why don’t you want people to promote flag redesigns on this post?This post was created to dispell misinformation and explore the online trails of lesbian flags prior to 2017. I don’t want to tell other people what flag to use, nor do I want others to use this post as a platform to tell other people what flag to use, because that’s not the purpose of this post.I’m not a lesbian, can I reblog this?I don’t mind who shares this, but if you want to add commentary as someone ouside the lesbian community, please think carefully on whether or not it is relevant or appropriate. Can I repost this on Twitter/Facebook/etc?I don’t mind, but I’d strongly recommend including a link back to this post in order to preserve the sources.Actually, there is an official/agreed upon flag! It’s ______. —————————————————————– SourcesScupham-Bilton, Tony. “Putting Out Sean Campbell’s Flags”. The Queerstory Files, 21 June 2012. [archive]Bayley, Clare. “A Field Guide to Pride Flags”. Clare Bayley, 27 June 2013. [2014 archive] [2015 update archive]@lovemystarfire. “LGBT Community Terminology and Flags”. DeviantArt, 18 April 2014. [archive]Volcano, Del Lagrace. And the March Stops. 1988. Photograph. Lesbian Herstory Archives. London [archive]McCray, Natalie. “Lipstick Lesbian Pride!!!”. This Lesbian Life, 28 July 2010. [archive]File:Lipstick Lesbian Pride Flag.jpg @ Wikimedia Commons [archive]Lipstick lesbian: Revision history @ Wikipedia [archive]LGBT symbols: Revision history @ Wikipedia [archive]@darciam. “Pride United - Button Set”. DeviantArt, 27 August 2012. [archive]@LeiAndLove. “Ultimate LGBTQ Flag Guide”. DeviantArt, 17 July 2011. [archive]McCray, Natalie. “The Official Lipstick Lesbian Flag”. This Lesbian Life, 4 August 2014. [archive]McCray, Natalie. The Official Lipstick Lesbian Pride Flag, retrieved 1 June 2016. [archive]@Pride-Flags @ DeviantArt [archive]@Pride-Flags. “Pride-Flags’s DeviantArt Gallery (page 138)”. DeviantArt, retrieved 5 June 2019. [archive]@Pride-Flags. “Lesbian”. DeviantArt, 7 October 2015. [archive]@Pride-Flags. “Lesbian Labrys”. DeviantArt, 7 October 2015. [archive]@Pride-Flags. “Lipstick Lesbian”. DeviantArt, 25 December 2016. [archive]@emtmercy. “the lesbian flag is so cute…”. Tumblr, 11 March 2016. [archive]@sappharah. “the lesbian flag is so cute…”. Tumblr, 27 March 2016. [archive]@sappharah. “the lesbian flag is so pretty…”. Tumblr, 8 June 2016. [archive]@allukazaoldyeck. “sorry this should be my last…”. Tumblr, 30 June 3017. [archive]@allukazaoldyeck. “Lesbian Flag Poll Data Results”. Tumblr, 7 June 2018. [archive]@which-lesbian-flag. “The Lesbian Flag Survey”. Tumblr, 21 July 2018. [archive]@taqwomen. “Lesbian Flag Colors”. Tumblr, 26 July 2018. [archive]@official-lesbian-flag. “Official Lesbian Flag Poll”. Tumblr, 30 June 2018. [archive]@creatoroflesflagisracist. “Commercial Lesbian Flag Poll (please only lesbians vote)”. Tumblr, 14 December 2018. [archive]Lydia. “A Lesbian Flag for Everyone”. Medium, 27 June 2018. [archive]McCray, Natalie. “My Worst Date Ever”. This Lesbian Life, 18 July 2010. [original archive] [2018 updated archive]@thislesbianlife. “The second season of the real l word has too many butches”. Twitter, 16 May 2011. [archive]@thislesbianlife. “Why don’t butches shave their armpits!!! IT’S DISGUSTING! Even men trim it!”. Twitter, 8 January 2011. [archive]McCray, Natalie. “The 10 Worst Things About Being A Lipstick Lesbian”. This Lesbian Life, 18 July 2010. [archive]Baker, Gilbert. Rainbow Flag. 1978. Nylon. Museum of Modern Art. New York. [link]—————————————————————– CreditFont: Pixellari by Zacchary Dempsey-Plante [x]Pile of Flags:(NOTE: This is by no means an exhaustive list of recent redesigns, nor am I interested in curating such a list. I am having difficulty tracking down the original posts for 17 and 31, if you recognise them please get in touch!)[x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x]–[x][x][x][x][x] *[x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x] *[x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x]* Indicates that the original post has been deleted, and a reblogged version of it has been archived instead. -- source link

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