Why The NHS Use Of The Pride Flag Was A Mistake
Over the course of the lockdown, I began working in a local grocery store. It was there that I first saw the rainbow being used as a symbol of something other than LGBTQ+ pride. The store was selling an array of rainbow themed items such as stickers, gingerbread men and masks.
As I was so inclined to associate the colourful symbol with the queer community, I didn’t think for a moment about any alternative meanings. It wasn’t until a couple days later that I realised the rainbow had begun to be used as a symbol of hope and solidarity for key workers at the height of a devastating health crisis.
My mum and I were walking our dog and she pointed out the hand-drawn rainbows that were sitting in many people’s front windows. Even then, I didn’t really see the issue with the crossover. However, as the use of the ‘Thank you NHS’ rainbow gained traction, I grew increasingly uncomfortable. It appeared that the lines between the pride flag and support for the NHS had become worryingly blurred. As time progressed, it became clear that I was not alone in my discomfort, many other members of the community expressing their distaste for this ‘newfound meaning’ of the pride flag.
In order to understand the issue with this appropriation of the pride flag, we must first look at its history. The LGBTQ+ community began using the pride flag over forty years ago, in 1978, at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. It was created by openly gay activist, Gilbert Baker, after he was challenged by the influential Harvey Milk to produce a symbol for the queer community. The pride flag replaced the original symbol of the LGBTQ+ movement, the pink triangle, which was a reminder of a dark period in queer history: once being used to signify LGBTQ+ individuals in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII.
Eventually, the pride flag became a globally recognised representation of the queer identity, proudly displayed at annual pride parades, outside of gay businesses and outside the homes of queer folk and allies alike. It’s no wonder, then, that the six-colour rainbow is treated as a symbol of freedom, hope and diversity for the LGBTQ+ community. Today, the pride flag remains an undoubtedly crucial part of LGBQT+ history and identification.
Incidentally, the NHS’ use of the pride flag was originally well-intentioned. Beginning at Evelina London Children’s hospital in 2019, an initiative encouraged NHS staff to wear pride themed badges in order to show their support for LGBTQ+ patients and their families. The purpose? Inclusivity, acceptance and tolerance. The rainbow trend, which saw children displaying their own rainbows in their front windows to cheer up those passing by, carried an equally positive message. Beginning in Italy, it was often coupled with the slogan ‘andra tutto benne’, translating to ‘everything will be alright’ in English.
However, somewhere down the line, these two autonomous uses of the rainbow became interchangeable. From my own research, it seems as though there is no specific campaign or brand to blame for this shift in the rainbow flag’s meaning. Why, then, are queer folk upset? If this wasn’t a deliberate act of marginalisation and erasure, does the community even have a right to be angry?
In short, yes. Sadly, we are yet to reach an age in which displays of LGBTQ+ pride are unnecessary. On the one hand, pride parades may be a celebration of the rights granted to LGBTQ+ individuals, however, it’s easy to forget that they are also protests, demonstrating that changes still need to take place in order for the community to be treated with consistent fairness and equality. As Britain’s largest healthcare provider, the NHS must be included in these changes.
Why? Well, worryingly, a Stonewall survey published just two years ago suggested that one in seven LGBTQ+ people avoid healthcare treatment in the UK for fear of discrimination. This, coupled with the significantly high rates of mental health issues among LGBTQ+ individuals, makes it clear that healthcare providers remain a significantly contributing factor to the happiness and wellbeing of the queer community.
More specifically, a recent decision by the UK Government has scrapped plans to allow transgender individuals to self ID. This, in turn, means that members of the trans community will continue to require a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria in order to legally identify as trans. Despite plans to open three new gender clinics across the UK over the next year, long-waiting lists remain the reality for many trans individuals. This only further highlights the importance of the NHS and other healthcare providers in changing the lives those belonging to the LGBTQ+ community.
With all of this in mind, it’s not difficult to see why the NHS’ adoption of the pride flag has been mildly discomforting for some queer folk, and downright upsetting for others. It may well be clear that the alteration of the pride flag’s meaning was not an outright anti-LGBTQ+ act, occurring due to an unintentional, perhaps unexpected, blending of the NHS pride-themed badges, a global pandemic and children’s drawings.
Nonetheless, use of the pride flag to represent a thank you to the NHS signifies an ignorance and insensitivity towards LGBTQ+ issues, something that many members of the community are growing tired of seeing. Perhaps, at a time when we need to come together as a society, we should be finding an alternative way to say thank you to the NHS and all of its hard workers, by using a symbol that doesn’t share implications of a brutal, ongoing battle for the rights of a marginalised community.
Written by Erin Lister
Erin is a recent English graduate, currently living in Manchester and working as a teaching assistant. She's obsessed with all things music, theatre and television and hopes to one day write about them for a living.