To anyone who says, ‘no one fought or died for the rainbow flag’, please do your research (Picture: In Pictures via Getty Images)

Pride flags are up on Regent Street, just in time for the big day in London on July 1. 

It’s a great flag! First hung in the iconic street last year to mark 50 years of Pride in London, this newer version takes the rainbow design we’ve known for decades, and adapts it to highlight specific parts of the queer community 

This version sees trans people represented with pink, white and blue chevrons; people of colour with black and brown chevrons; and intersex people with a purple circle on yellow background.

I was pleased that we now recognise those members of the LGBTQ+ community – who often disproportionately experience the effects of bigotry, homophobia and transphobia – in such a high-profile position and it’s something no one should have a problem with.

A flag celebrating diversity and inclusion, what’s not to like, right? 

Unfortunately, and rather predictably, I’ve seen a deluge of reactions on Twitter and elsewhere from some of the usual suspects about Britain having ‘fallen’ and being ‘conquered’ by a ‘satanic month’. 

Every year, I’m forced to see some anti-LGBTQ+ or right wing commentators ask where their ‘straight flag’ is, and say it’s a disgrace to fly flags no one apparently fought or died for. 

One even filmed himself burning it, calling it a vile flag that celebrates ‘child mutilation’. 

Some have gone as far as to compare it to Nazi insignia, or said that Britain is apparently under a ‘new regime’.

I’m never sure if the people saying these things truly believe them, or if they are simply using this issue to get attention or stoke division. 

Regardless, their reaction (and the floods of people agreeing on social media), underlines to me exactly why we still need Pride – and flag displays like the one in Regent Street.

Old homophobic and transphobic biases and prejudices have not gone away. 

A flag celebrating diversity and inclusion, what’s not to like, right? (Picture: Peter Fingleton)

Sincere or not, these comments need to be taken seriously – there are potential real-world violent consequences from this kind of rhetoric.

Although it’s hard to know where even to begin tackling such OTT statements, let’s start with the facts. 

LGBTQ+ people do not have substantive power; we do not control governments, and certainly we don’t enjoy anything like the power of a ‘regime’.

If anything, LGBTQ+ rights are under constant threat from years of Tory Government – from a reported new guidelines that could make things difficult for trans youth, to a Prime Minister joking on camera about ‘women with penises’. 

It was only in 2013 that more than half of the Conservative Party declined to vote in favour of gay marriage. 

Furthermore, to invoke any comparisons between Pride and Nazi Germany is disgusting, especially given that queer people were a specific target of the Nazis. 

This is truly obvious stuff but apparently it needs to be said.

While LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance have markedly improved in recent history, there is a long way to go. 

Police figures suggest that reports of homophobic hate crimes more than doubled in the five years from 2016-17 to 2021-22, with reports of transphobic hate crimes rising by 240% in that same period. 

This is truly obvious stuff but apparently it needs to be said (Picture: Wolf James)

Personally, I was threatened with assault at a regional Pride event last summer. 

My crime? Wearing a dress near children. 

Further afield, Italy is rolling back protections for queer parents, homosexuality is now punishable by death in Uganda, US states are unveiling rafts of new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and we may never know the death toll of queer people allegedly murdered by the regime in Chechnya. 

It’s still illegal to be gay in 64 countries around the world. 

So, to anyone who says, ‘no one fought or died for the rainbow flag’, please do your research.  

While things are generally better for queer people than ever before, things are not yet equal. 

For those wondering why more queer people aren’t proud of the Union Jack that has also adorned Regent Street, for me it’s because I don’t feel fully safe or included in my own country. 

So if you truly wanted more queer people to be proud of being British, you’d stop railing against a rainbow flag and spend your effort working to make Britain a better place for people to live their authentic LGBTQ+ life. 

The backlash against the Pride flags is sad, but unsurprising. When a marginalised group begins to receive equal treatment, that feels like oppression to those who have benefited from previous inequality. 

So if you’re one of those complaining on social media that you ‘supported gay rights’, but now think it’s being ‘shoved down your throat’ during Pride month, then obviously you never really supported gay rights in the first place. 

But (for June at least) the rainbows are here, decorating Regent Street and shopping aisles and, yes, even corporate logos all across the country.  

I’m always wary of corporate pink-washing, and I think it’s reasonable to question a company’s intent when they slap a rainbow badge on a product, but visibility does still matter. The backlash shows just how much work there still is to do.

Pride celebrations in smaller towns and cities around the UK feel particularly special and important – out of the big city bubble and with young queer people who really need visibility and representation – I’m always glad to get to perform at these events.

But whether it’s in a village hall or under those giant flags in London, in the face of people still calling us ‘deviants’, it’s still very powerful to gather together and stand unashamed. 

And it’s great to have visible allyship, even when that’s just a rainbow flag hanging on Regent Street.

And if you can’t handle it – the flags will be taken down again after Pride month. 

Until then, cry harder, snowflake.

Crystal will be hosting MIMI’s for London Pride at Troxy on July 1

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To anyone who says, ‘no one fought or died for the rainbow flag’, please do your research.