Atlanta rapper Big Gipp posted a message to his Instagram that many felt was homophobic. In the post Gipp expressed his desire to have a "Straight Pride Month." He based his reasoning on the "average" structure of a family. In the image parents are shielding their child from a rainbow, which many can see alludes to the LGBT community. Along with the picture, he also added a caption that stated,
"With the total push of other ways of living…let's all please remember we all come from this right here…No disrespect 2 no one but let's push this more in 2020…"
Even when one of his followers tried to make him aware of the insensitive nature of the post. Gipp gave a rebuttal expressing that the rainbow depicted was "GODS property." Primarily denoting the connection between the symbolic rainbow flag and the LGBT movement.
This is not the first time the concept of a straight pride celebration has hit the mainstream. Gipp's call for a month that celebrates heterosexuality echoes back to the straight pride parade that took place in Boston, Massachusetts, earlier this year.
In Sep. 2019, numerous individuals marched the streets of Boston in celebration of heterosexuality. Collectively they shouted the phrases "straight lives matter" and "It's great to be straight." However, the march soon became a testament to the rhetoric that Donald Trump promoted during his campaign and presidential term.
Yet, why are so many LGBT people offended by this trend of celebrating heterosexuality?
First off, this is not a discussion on whether or not there is pride in being heterosexual. Without question, everyone should take pride in who they are. Yet, when people mention the celebration of "straight-pride," they do so without acknowledging the oppression that the LGBT community endures.
The call for straight pride parades, straight pride month, or straight pride paraphernalia, is done out of the need to contrast the progress and acceptance of the LGBT community.
Note, the advantage and the necessity of celebration for marginalized groups is imperative. This act of celebration aids the many lives which exist within societies that have brutalized, fetishized, and demonized their communities. Straight people have never been hated, killed, or threatened based on expressions that which comes naturally to them. The same is not for members of the LGBT community.