a rainbow flag is a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community or supporters. You see a lot of them hung up in Pride Month, June because that was when there was a big LGBTQ+ movement, called the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
The lgbtq+ Community
Evyia Makrodimitri and Fatoumata Obaseki
Have you heard people use the term: LGBTQ+? Well this article explains it! LGBTQ+ is the name of the community of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and more and that’s why it says “+”. It also includes supporters, or allies for the people who aren’t LGBTQ+. For some people, LGBTQ+ can be a sensitive subject that people don’t like to talk about. Some people like to joke around and abuse the terms. Some people might not support it, but they keep it to themselves or they don’t say mean things to them, which is fine. And unfortunately some people use it as an insult, which is very disrespectful.
It’s disrespectful because there are people that are bullied or abused for their sexual orientation (what gender(s) they like) or what gender they are, and people joke about it a lot. It’s like being racist, because LGBTQ+ people don't control what gender they like or what gender they are, neither can we control what color our skin is.
If you are wondering about what some terms might mean, then here are some:
Lesbian: A woman who is romantically or sexually attracted to a woman.
Gay: Someone who is romantically or sexually attracted to someone the same gender
Bisexual: Some one who likes 2 genders.
Transgender or trans: A term for any one who identifies as a gender that they weren’t born with, like FtM or MtF, which is female to male or male to female, but someone who’s trans could also be agender (gender neutral), genderfluid (someone who changes genders, who doesn’t nessecarily stay one gender), demigender (someone who feels genderfluid but mostly feels like one gender). Also some people might want to have different pronouns (like she,her, he,him or they,them) so you should respect that.
Queer/questioning: queer is a term for someone who isn’t straight (who likes the opposite gender) or cisgender (who identifies as the same gender that they were born with) Some people don’t like using that term though. Questioning means you are unsure of your gender or sexuality.
Intersex: some one who was born physically not male nor female
Asexual: someone who isn’t sexually interested in any gender
Pansexual: someone who is sexually interested in all genders, regardless of their gender
I hope you learned more about the LGBTQ+ community and can spread the message to everyone else to respect them!