: What is a symbol showing support for Gay Rights that makes it clear I am a straight supporter? In light of the horrific tragedy that took place in Orlando, FL (Pulse Nightclub Shooting) I

@Ogunnowo857

One year ago today the Pulse Nightclub tragedy occurred which created Orlando United. It dawned on me while driving home and looking at all the bumper stickers around that this question could probably use the event specific answer.

This is probably the most common symbol that emerged. Sometimes its seen like this in 2 lines and other times the UNITED is next to ORLANDO:



Though the official ones are the following:





The top is the official event logo and is also found on lots of bumper stickers and shirts.

The bottom one is the fountain in Lake Eola, the main lake in downtown Orlando which has had the fountain since 1912., and an unofficial icon of the city. It is technically the logo for the One United Fund that was created to benefit the victims. I'm not sure that I've ever seen this one appear on apparel and/or bumper stickers. As you'll notice the bottom portion is actually the first image above as a condensed form of this. Perhaps the Fund trademarked this take on the logo.

At least in America, I would say removing the word Orlando and just having a rainbow "UNITED" would be the best answer to this question. Or replacing ORLANDO with your own city.

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@Moriarity648

Initially my thought was the Rainbow Flag stood for each kind of sexuality out there, when in fact it does not.

The rainbow flag was designed by Gilbert Baker, a friend of the gay rights activist Harvey Milk, in 1978. The flag was created a few months before Milk's assassination but became a permanent symbol following Milk's death.

The current flag, has six colors: Red (life), Orange (healing), Yellow (sunlight), Green (nature), Royal Blue (serenity/harmony), and Violet (spirit).

Older versions of the flag have Pink and Turquoise as stripes, but those were removed as flag makers could not find any hot pink dye or fabric at the time to make flags with. Later turquoise was dropped because the yellow strip in the center would blend in too easily with the flag post. So the flag makers decided to stick with six colors. (See www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Apr/1801.htm for a complete history.)

In terms of a symbol that straight people can use to stand in solidarity with their LGBT friends, there doesn't seem to be anything official or standard.

Most people assume that it is the Human Rights Campaign Logo, either in Blue and Gold or Red and Pink, but that's not true.

So, the answer is one hasn't been made up yet.

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@Debbie163

Interesting topic, inclusive as a graphic design issue.

Here are my two cents.

There are several aspects, Imho 3 aspects to the specific case and 3 aside the issue.

What needs to be included.


Gay
Support
No violence


What is not necessary included


Gay pride
Gay rights
I am


Why this is important? Because probably the support in this case of violence is not necessary about other rights.

So here is my aportation. I prepared some options using only the 3 elements above.

This first one uses a commonly used symbol of support, a ribbon.



The next ones are more limited because the use of text in english. It is more complicated because one hand alone could significate stop Gay, so probably all needs to be included.

In some countries the hexagonal is not that clear, but here are they.




I am releasing them under the CC-BY-NC licence. (If it applies because I am using some already public resources.

Right click on the images to download them in high res.

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@Kimberly620

There's actually a flag already designed specifically for straight allies:


The black and white stripes show that you're cisgender and heterosexual, and the rainbow in the "A" shape shows you're an ally.

The real question is whether or not you should use it. As other answers have pointed out, you could easily fly the simple rainbow flag as a symbol of your support. In fact, not caring if someone thinks you're gay or not is probably the best thing you can do to show the LGBTQIA+ community that you really are an ally. It's a small way to speak up and say "I don't care if someone think's I'm gay, because there's nothing wrong with that." If someone asks, just say "oh, no, I'm just an ally."

As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community myself, I find it a little disingenuine when a see an ally who's too concerned about being mistaken for being gay to fly a rainbow flag or wear a rainbow pin. While support is always appreciated, be careful that you're not inadvertently putting down the gay community by getting defensive about stressing you're not a part of it.

Thank you for being an ally in these tough times.

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@Pierce403

The Human Rights Campaign Logo



The Human Rights Campaign is an LGBT activism group based in the US. They use a yellow equals sign against a blue background as their logo which is often displayed to show support for LGBT. They were the organization behind the same-sex marriage logo that you mention. Free "HRC Equality Stickers" are made available to spread support:


Do you believe in an America where you can't get fired just because you are lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender, or where all people can be accepted for who they are regardless of whom they love? Show it, with this FREE equality sticker!


While the symbol is not as widely recognized as the rainbow flag, it has the potential benefit of encouraging people to seek out themselves what it stands for.

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@Chiappetta793

I think the rainbow flag / pride flag is still your best bet. I have seen it used by lots of people, LGBTQ and straight/cis alike. Especially during campaigns like proposition 8 for marriage equality, I see lots of straight people fly the rainbow or put a rainbow filter over their avatar pictures.

An easy alternative would be to put some text over the rainbow flag, like this:



There is some precedent for this use, with the rainbow flag functioning as a peace flag, with the word 'peace' written on it.

Then again, my perspective is European. Dutch, to be exact, and the Netherlands are on the tolerant side of the scale when it comes to matters like these. Other cultural perspectives may differ, and prompt a different choice.

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