Creators Rae Valentine, Anushka Bohra, Tanya Nagrani talk to Smrithi Mohan about the color that represents Pride for them
As we rejoice in the most wonderful and liberating month of the year, there’s a lot that we as allies are yet to discover and learn about the LGBTQIA+ community. There is so much that we have less knowledge about and all we need is to be a part of conversations and understand the dynamics of the community better. It’s only through proper discussions that we can understand different perspectives and appreciate the wonderful aspects of this community. Colors happen to be a big variant of what each part of the community means.
We had the opportunity to ask some creators which color represents Pride for them!
Rae Valentine, "Pride in itself has a very deep meaning. To me, Pride means love and not only for your significant other but your friends, colleagues, yourself and even for people you don’t know. It just doesn’t have to revolve around a relationship. It could be as simple as having empathy and compassion for another human being. It’s hard for me to choose a single color because all of them depict such strong meanings. But if I were to choose one, it would be ‘blue’ which stands for serenity and harmony. For years and years, the LGBTQIA+ community has faced its share of struggles for acceptance from peers and society but now that seems to be changing, people are way more welcoming and supportive. We are not fully there yet but I’m sure one day we will be, which would bring serenity, peace and harmony for everybody. That is exactly what love is about, that’s exactly what ‘Pride’ stands for."
Anushka Bohra, "To me, Pride means being your true self and speaking up for people who can’t find their voice. We are all in this together, and I think sometimes we forget that. That’s what the LGBTQIA+ community is for. Pride is about standing together, united, lifting each other up and being there for each other. Pride is a community of others who have often struggled to embrace who they are after being raised as someone they’re not. And so Pride is a sense of family. A shared experience. Pride honors trans women of color who fought against the systems of oppression that wanted to erase queerness.
To me, pride is about celebrating the past that led us here and the future of intersectional equity we continue to fight for. Pride reminds us that we matter. Pride month would never exist if queer people were accepted by others easily. To me, pride is defiance. It’s constructive anger in response to being regularly trivialized, overly sexualised and swept to the margins of society. It’s visibility coming together on the streets to show people that there are thousands of real people with real lives that they actively harm when they support/ introduce policies that treat them as unimportant and ignorable."
Tanya Nagrani, "Pride for me begins with taking pride in my own identity, to be comfortable in my own skin and to embrace and express myself without being bound to any societal norms. This is what makes life beautiful, the finer things in life. The art of becoming an art in oneself. And that’s what I live for.
When it comes to connotations of each color in the pride flag, the initial version of it resonates with me more than the renewed one for the following reasons. Hot pink is sex, which I consider to be a primitive and an important aspect of life. One should accept it with a healthy approach and that can do wonders for you. A powerful exchange of energies like no other. Red is life. Red is considered to be the color of life, everything that is connected to being alive is red. For example, our blood. To be alive in this very moment and to experience the life you create for yourself by breaking the stereotypes and to express yourself without any bounds. Orange is healing. Orange is usually considered to be a warm color. Indicating the other warmth you radiate with your love when you’re so full of love and positivity.
The whole LGBTQIA+ community radiates this energy. Yellow is sunlight. The element of fire, to ignite the passion in you. Green is nature. To realise eventually that everything is connected in oneness that all of these biased illusions of gender identities are just one of the many human errors. Turquoise is magic or art. Magic happens only to those who realise that they’re capable of creating magic for themselves. Indigo is serenity. You come at peace with yourself when you don’t let others tell you who you are and that’s where it all begins! Violet is spirit. No matter how much they try to put you down, never let your spirit die. Because you come from a place of love, unlike the people who channel their own insecurities on you. Almost all these colors resemble the current flag except there’s blue as an addition to it which simply means harmony, with oneself and the universe. If we simply understand the simple nature of humanity, to live in harmony, the world would be a better place to live in. Although it’s still beautiful because of people like you and me and everyone around us.
What does Pride colour mean to you? Let us know in the comments below.
This article was a part of Social Ketchup's June 2021 Pride edition. Download the magazine now!
/socialketchup/media/agency_attachments/oTmmYmTemGaSn2TxEWbL.png)
Follow Us/socialketchup/media/post_banners/OozBzkMEtxFxqN1lRimz.jpg)
/socialketchup/media/media_files/2024/10/29/5nWH2wX9bJ525bXgAc73.png)