Some European Captains Plan to Wear Rainbow Armbands at World Cup
By: John S. Clark
For years, the Rainbow Flag has been the flag of the gay and lesbian community, and the Olympic Games are held in cities around the world each year. But this year, the Rainbow Games organizers made it official that they will be sending a gay pride flag out to the International Olympic Committee. Organizers are calling the flag “the gay flag of the rainbow” and hoping that it will become the new Olympic official flag of the sport.
At the last Rainbow Games, there were two banners of flags representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. That time, the organizers chose the U.S. flag. In keeping with the Olympic ideal of inclusion, the organizers announced that they had selected to fly the rainbow flag, too. The U.S. flag is also a pride flag.
But this time, some European teams, such as the Spanish, Swedish, and English, have decided to fly a new flag: the gay flag of the rainbow. This is because the organizers feel that the U.S. flag has become too conservative, and they feel that the gay community could not live up to the ideals of the games.
“The U.S. flag gives a lot to the gay community,” said Daniel Kish, who is gay and gay athlete in the London games. “We want something that represents us well, and not just the gay community. We want our flag to represent the whole world.”
“It’s a symbol for those who want equality, but it’s also for those who are fighting to make a change in their country and around the world. It symbolizes the power of the gay community because we’re the community that has had that voice at the front. We’ve been at the front for most of our history. And it’s our voice, our influence, and it’s a voice we hope the IOC hears.”
