WORK ORDER
To: Graphic designers at The Farm.
From: Gay Community Inc. (The formerly unincorporated group comprised of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transexuals, transgendered, transvestites, queers, questioning and others.)
Re: New corporate image.
We know. We know. That fucking golden arch has served McDonald’s since 1955. But that’s because nothing’s changed there in 45 years! A hamburger is a hamburger. Look at all the change Gay Community Inc has seen in the past 30 years; we can afford new letterhead.
Sure, the pink triangle has served the gay community well. Using the badge that the Nazis assigned to gay men in the concentration camps was a powerful statement – pride and solidarity in the face of oppression. It started popping up as the symbol for gay in the 1970s. (Pink Triangle Press, the publisher of that biweekly tabloid Xtra, adopted the symbol in 1975.)
But, to be honest, the pink triangle symbolically doesn’t cover everybody. Lesbians who were incarcerated by the Nazis were often assigned red triangles (antisocial perverts) or black triangles (prostitutes). And, as a symbol, the pink triangle is harsh and closely tied to AIDS (ACT UP’s Silence = Death logo is burnt into people’s minds).
Maybe the heavy meaning is why Gilbert Baker came up with the rainbow flag in 1978. It’s so San Francisco! It’s so cheery! Unbearably cheery! It’s the yellow smiley face of gay pride! But you’d have to have a degree in massage therapy to know that the colours are suppose to represent sexuality, life, healing, sun, nature, art, harmony and spirit. It looks cheesy on business cards.
Our shareholders want something that will look good in their minimalist modernist livingrooms. And something that reflects the playfulness of the times. They want funny. Like Taco Bell.
Why you can trust Xtra
