The rainbow flag has become widely accepted as a symbol of gay rights. Russia's leading party plans to use their 'straight flag' as a tool in the fight against "gay fever".
If, for some reason, you've ever wanted to show off your straight pride, Russia has finally given you the symbol you've been waiting for.
Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party has created a ‘straight flag’ to fly in their fight against “gay fever.”
The flag shows what might be considered a ‘traditional’ family, with one husband, one wife and three children. Across the bottom, in a font that looks suspiciously like Comic Sans, reads a hashtag that translates to #RealFamily. It comes in red, white and blue, one version for each of the colors on the Russian flag.
It was unveiled in Moscow on Wednesday, according to Russia Today, and was officially presented Wednesday at The Day of Family, Love, and Faithfulness, a day that celebrates the Orthodox patron saints of marriage and family.
“This is our response to same-sex marriage, to this mockery of the concept of the family,” said Andrei Lisovenko, the deputy head of the United Russia branch in Moscow to a reporter for Izvestia.
Homosexuality isn’t illegal in Russia, but it certainly is frowned upon, and there are laws that prevent promoting “nontraditional” sexual relations to minors.
The new flag comes in the wake of a surge of positive opinion that came after the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage last month.
On the internet, many accused the flag’s creators of plagiarism, pointing out similarities between the #RealFamily flag and the flag of La Manif Pour Tous, a French group that vocally opposes gay marriage. The only difference between the two flags seems to be that the Russians tacked on an additional child in their version.
Lisovenko defended the flag on the Russian radio station RSN, saying that they had the approval from the French designers, and decided to add an additional child because “it is a Russian tradition to have many children in a family.”
Lisovenko said that he wants to ban the use of the rainbow flag anywhere in Russia — including on the internet — shortly after the people began covering their profile pictures on social media with rainbows.
The flag was immediately the butt of jokes by social media users worldwide.
Others just wanted to see a more open-minded version of the flag.
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