Personal Statement: Divisions Within The Community

In the past I have called for more active interest and participation from the Pink Community, and I am happy to say that in recent months the community has risen to the challenge by and large, with new Pride events taking place, new community support projects springing up, and new activist voices shouting from within the wilderness to speak out against the injustices faced by our community. However;

There is an ongoing feud between the organizers of a community pageant  and other members of the community, a feud which is both unproductive and insensible, and which threatens to tear a rift right through the community. I also find it puzzling and disgusting how many people who wouldn't be seen dead voting or supporting anything political openly in defense of their own rights, have jumped in neck-deep in supporting either of the parties in this recent dispute which has been threatening to divide and weaken us as a community.

Rainbow Unity

Last week I noticed for the first time that people refer to the rainbow flag as "the gay flag". I have often heard it referred to as such, but for the first time I really thought about it. Is it really?

We have quite a diverse community, consisting of gay men, gay women (or lesbians), bisexual people, transgender people (including transsexuals, drag queens, transvestites, she-males) and intersex people. There are also other sub-groups such as pansexuals, panromantics, the gender-queer and asexuals. And if you think that's all there is to us, you're mistaken. There are also some lesser-known sub-cultures within our community, such as the bear and leather groups.

And yes, while we may be gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex, we can also be part of more than one of these groups at the same time.