Decolonising the Rainbow Flag

Abstract

The aim of the article is to explore the location and the meaning given to the rainbow flag in places outside the hegemonic center. Through three case studies in the global North and South, held together by a multi-ethnographic approach, as well as a certain theoretical tension between the rainbow flag as a boundary object and/or a floating signifier, we seek to study where the flag belongs, to whom it belongs, with particular focus on how. The three case studies, which are situated in a city in the Global South (Buenos Aires), in a conflict war zone in the Middle East (the West Bank) and in a racialised neighbourhood in the Global North (Sweden), share despite their diversity a peripheral location to hegemonic forms of knowledge production regimes. Central to our analysis is how the rainbow flag is given a multitude of original and radical different meanings that may challenge the colonial/Eurocentric notions which up to a certain extent are embedded in the rainbow flag.

Rainbow Flag and Belongings/Disbelongings: Öckerö Pride and Reclaim Pride in Gothenburg, Sweden 2019

“…According to these critics, the flag and the Pride parades have become normalised, mainstreamed, and thus harmless. It is used by capitalist market-driven businesses and cities in order to sell their products and services (Klapeer and Laskar 2018;Peterson et al 2018), by nations to wash away the country's image of being homophobic, so-called pinkwashing, and to build an image of the nation as modern and tolerant, so-called homonationalism (Puar 2007;Alm and Martinsson 2016;Laskar et al 2016). It also functions as a tool for attempts by right-wing groups to dismiss immigrants and refugees, accusing them of being backwards and intolerant, often combined with statements about Islam (Brown 2009;Puar 2007).…”

“…Sweden is a country, which, together with Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and Canada, is often deemed to be one of the world's most tolerant of homosexuality. The tolerance is seen as a signum of the open, educated, enlightened state that the country is so proud of having achieved (Laskar et al 2016). Even though Sweden has come a long way (note my use of a linear timeframe) regarding laws and official policies, LGBTQ people are still hit by homophobic actions and many are still not open about their sexual identification, especially not at work or in public (Björk and Wahlström 2018).…”

The discursive framing of Turkey's pro‐government town square movement

“…While the flag routinely appears during public holidays and in the aftermath of military conflicts and national tragedies, it took on particular importance in the context of the coup narrative. Before discussing its meaning with respect to the billboards, it is important to note that flags are polysemous (Reichl, 2004); moreover, they serve as ‘floating signifier[s] whose meaning[s] are decided by the signifier’ (Laskar, Johansson, & Mulinari, 2016, p. 210). Accordingly, displays of the flag during the coup could be interpreted in different ways.…”

Coming Out and Reaching Out: Linguistic Advocacy on Queer Nigerian Twitter

“…For one, all the tweets are by Nigerians who document their realities in relation to the immediate Nigerian situation which inhibits queer selfexpression. In expressing and owning their sexuality online, Nigerian queers, for instance through their Twitter names, spell out their sexuality as they incorporate lexis like "gay", "homo", "queer" as well as using the rainbowa symbol of LGBTQ advocacy globally (Laskar, Johansson, and Mulinari 2016) in their Twitter handles and names. They also own their profiles by either using their personal images or other suggestive queer-positive ones, thus indicating their sexual orientation.…”