Support for the NHS is Erasing Us
The LGBT+ community is losing its flag — here’s why this matters
In March, 2020 COVID-19 sparked a global pandemic. In the UK, lockdown was quickly followed by a huge outburst of support for the NHS (the National Health Service) in the form of weekly clapping, money donations, and the nationwide use of a rainbow flag.
This support was really important for the NHS, because it is a tax-funded service that has been gradually losing funds due to recent government decisions. This lack of funds was very apparent when COVID-19 almost immediately filled up every bed in hospitals, draining PPE supplies and overworking hospital staff.
However, it’s become apparent that this support has also had negative connotations, replacing the meaning behind the rainbow flag. Here’s what you need to know about the situation and why it’s important.
The history of the rainbow flag
Rainbows are everywhere in history, from Christian stories about Noah and the Ark to lore about Irish leprechauns. Flags using rainbow stripes were first seen after WW2 as part of the Hippie movement for world peace. This peace flag is thought to have inspired the original LGBT+ flag. The flag was devised by Gilbert Baker specifically because the community needed a new symbol of hope to move on from the pink triangle used in Nazi death camps.
The LGBT+ flag of the 70s had eight stripes, each given meaning by Baker. However, Harvey Milk’s assassination led to the first colour (hot pink) being discarded soon after. Support for Harvey, the first openly gay politician, started a huge demand for rainbow flags and pink was an expensive dye. A year later, indigo and blue were merged to create the six-striped flag that is used today.
While the rainbow flag has less homophobic baggage than the pink triangle, its use was not without issues. For example, John Stout had to sue his landlord in 1989 to allow him to display the flag from his balcony. As recent as 2004, shops in London were forbidden to display the flag without planning permission — permission which was always denied.
Beyond these and many similar issues, people from the LGBT+ community have had to endure both verbal and physical abuse for displaying the flag or wearing rainbows. This abuse isn’t over either — it continues to this day all over the world. As shown by the fact that at least 33 transgender and gender non-conforming people have already been brutally murdered in 2020.
Arrival of the NHS flag
The NHS rainbow flag first made its appearance in March, 2020. I believe the movement started with traditional rainbows, but both traditional rainbows and rainbow flags quickly covered everything from families’ windows to store fronts to the occasional sheep.
Everyone from Ebay sellers to major corporations soon jumped on the wagon, and started “rebranding” their LGBT+ merch as NHS merch. For example, Plymouth Citybus:
As COVID-19 meant that Pride parades couldn’t take place, many companies have been accused of using support for the NHS as an excuse to still make a profit off of LGBT+ merch. Whether this is true or not, selling LGBT+ items as NHS items meant that there is no distinction between the two. In the UK, a rainbow can no longer be assumed to stand for LGBT+ rights. In fact, the sudden surge of rainbow flags means that support for the NHS currently outweighs the flags still supporting the LGBT+ community.
Visibility is the issue
There’s nothing wrong with the NHS having a symbol. Symbols are very powerful ways to show and rally support for groups who need it, like the NHS and other key workers. However, using the six-striped rainbow flag is both erasing the LGBT+ community and ignoring the discrimination we’ve faced and continue to face for displaying this flag.
The negative effects have already started. Homophobes have readily accepted this flag as standing for the NHS, telling the LGBT+ community that it doesn’t belong to us anymore. The NHS site itself, says nothing about LGBT+ rights on its Rainbows for the NHS page. The flag’s history feels like it was discarded overnight.
An incident on the much-loved Great British Bake Off (GBBO), clearly highlights this erasure. This year’s bread week on the 6th of October, Paul Hollywood asked the bakers to make rainbow bagels. When asked why, he said:
“I think the rainbow colours for me, although it originated over in the States, I think it represents the NHS. It does now certainly.”
Countless years of LGBT+ struggle for recognition brushed under the rug and replaced by the NHS. Thanks, Paul.
How should we fix this?
In order to avoid further erasure, there needs to be a differentiation between the NHS and LGBT+ symbols. It needs to be noticeable and it needs to be public.
As a part of the LGBT+ community, believe me when I say we understand we don’t own the rainbow. We agree that it’s a wonderful symbol of hope. However, we would like to be recognised as an underrepresented group of people who are still very much fighting for human rights. The flag is really important for us — not only is it an emotional part of our identity, it allows us to identify each other and allies to determine how safe we are in a situation.
There are multiple ways in which a rainbow flag can be devised for the NHS which is different to the LGBT+ one. A small difference such as using a different number of stripes would be fine. Or a blue flag with the traditional rainbow arc on it.
The damage has already been done, so it can’t be a silent change. It would be amazing if the NHS itself recognised this issue and publicly shared an alternative rainbowed flag they‘d like to be represented by. Or, we can drop the flag for the NHS entirely and work towards giving the NHS what it actually needs: more funding and consideration from the UK government.
As it is, it may have to suffice for us all to acknowledge this issue and help remind each other about LGBT+ rights and the history of the six-striped flag. Please remember that discrimination and hate are still prevalent; don’t let 2020 erase our identity.
At the very least, I sincerely hope someone will start a petition to get the GBBO website to rename their bagel recipe to gaygels.
