On Monday, Washington Post's "Civilities" columnist Steven Petrow criticized a reader's comparison between the LGBT rainbow flag and the Confederate battle flag. Petrow, the former president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, asserted in his item that "the history and symbolism of the two flags could not be more different; the responses they evoke — or provoke — even more disparate." Petrow spotlighted the "slavery, racism and national terrorism" associated with the Confederate flag, while claiming that the rainbow flag "unashamedly symbolized inclusion, equality and love."
The anonymous reader underlined that "it sure seems like hypocrisy to say we can't fly the rebel flag because it offends people, when you fly the gay flag, which certainly offends lots of people. Who gets to decide which flag is allowed to fly and which ones can't? I say grin and bear it." Petrow replied that "no one is saying that you can't fly the Confederate flag or any flag of your choosing — that's your right to free expression. The recent controversy has been mainly about the display of the Confederate flag not in private venues, but on public buildings and grounds." He continued that the reader's "question is deceptively evenhanded. Both the Confederate and rainbow flags are offensive to some; therefore, the two flags should be treated the same."
After making his claim that the "history and symbolism of the two flags could not be more different," the homosexual Washington Post columnist gave an account of how he was invited to a Klan rally in 1978 and witnessed a cross-burning and the flying of the Confederate flag:
I have personal history with both flags. In 1978, I had just graduated from Duke University, taking a summer job with a county health department in rural North Carolina. I rented a mobile home from a middle-aged white couple who took a shine to me; before long, the husband confided to me that he was a Ku Klux Klan member and invited me to a rally. Among the many things he didn't know about his tenant was that I am gay and Jewish. Intrepid, if not naive, a few nights later I witnessed a cross-burning and a display of Confederate flags in support of white supremacy and nationalism.
I was genuinely terrified. Terrified that my identity would be unearthed and terrified by the hatefulness of the imagery. One year later and one hour's driving time from my house trailer, members of the KKK and the American Nazi Party killed five participants, including another Duke graduate, in an anti-Klan rally.
Still, years later I understand on a visceral level, as countless African Americans in South Carolina and elsewhere also do, that the Confederate flag's power rests in its symbolism and its long and inextricable association with slavery, racism and national terrorism.
Petrow also cited Duke Divinity School visiting professor Tim Tyson, who contended that "given what the Confederate battle flag means to most African Americans — the banner of the cause of slavery — and given what flying it communicates to them, that's plenty of reason not to fly the flag." He added that "LGBT people also have reason to fear the Confederate flag. Only a few days ago I read that a Georgia chapter of the Klan, its Web site overrun with multiple images of the 'rebel flag,' is targeting the gay community, distributing incendiary fliers that read: 'Stop Aids: Support Gay Bashing.'"
Near the end of his column, the writer touted how the creator of the LGBT flag chose the rainbow, as the natural phenomenon "really fits our diversity in terms of race, gender, ages, all of those things." Petrow also disclosed that "during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, I volunteered with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and marched in the city's Gay & Lesbian Freedom Parade behind a fluttering rainbow flag, one that unashamedly symbolized inclusion, equality and love." He added, "I'm quite certain no one has ever felt his or her life was at risk at the sight of the rainbow flag."
What the Washington Post columnist left out is that LGBT "pride" parades – where the rainbow flag is the most prominent symbol – have featured anti-Christian imagery. Two months earlier, in June 2015, an anti-"homophobia" float in São Paulo, Brazil's "pride" parade mocked Jesus Christ's crucifixion. A "trans-gender" actor put on fake blood, a fake crown of thorns, and posed shirtless in front of a wooden cross. The float included a rainbow flag mere inches in front of the actor and the cross.
