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Identities
Liam O'Dell
Jun 04, 2023
Related video: Thousands of Israelis celebrate Pride in Jerusalem despite counter-march
Euronews News/VideoElephant
With June being Pride Month and the time to advocate for the rights of LGBT+ people, conservatives have still taken the opportunity to try and make it all about them – from releasing “transphobic” documentaries on Twitter to now erecting their own flags making their views on sexuality and gender known.
April Wilde Despain - a “homeschool mom” from Utah who “enjoys causing unnecessary drama” and is “not a member of or believer in the LGBTQ religion”, according to her Twitter bio – shared a tweet commenting on Pride Month on Friday.
She wrote: “We heard June was the month to hang up flags celebrating our personal beliefs about gender, sexuality, and identity. So we hung up ours!”
Along with the text, she attached a photo of her and her husband posing next to a flag depicting “a proclamation to the world” on “the family” issued by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1995.
Well, that’s what the title says, at least – the rest is too small to read on the flag from the distance.
Kind of defeats the purpose of a flag, April.
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Anyway, for those unfamiliar, the Mormon proclamation states “all human beings – male and female – are created in the image of God” and that “marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan”.
\u201cWe heard June was the month to hang up flags celebrating our personal beliefs about gender, sexuality, and identity. \n\nSo we hung up ours!\n\n\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffc\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
It continues: “We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfil family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.
“Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern profits.”
However, what April failed to realise is where there is a chance to get creative with Photoshop, the internet will all too happily take it.
And so, alternative flags were born:
\u201cWe heard June was the month to hang up flags celebrating our personal beliefs about gender, sexuality, and identity. \n\nSo we hung up ours!\n\n\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffc\u201d— Microplastics Enjoyer (@Microplastics Enjoyer) 1685766481
\u201cWow that's crazy\u201d— Grimpy (@Grimpy) 1685754403
\u201cit\u2019s beautiful!\u201d— Joey Monda (@Joey Monda) 1685751167
\u201cFixed it for you\n\ud83d\udc9e\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc9e\u201d— Linyela (@Linyela) 1685748408
\u201cFuck these homophobes and their cult bs. Here's a message we can all get behind.\u201d— Slavoj my Nagy (@Slavoj my Nagy) 1685744442
\u201cYou know I had to do it to em\u201d— Apocalypse Cowboy (COMMS OPEN) (@Apocalypse Cowboy (COMMS OPEN)) 1685783662
Others, meanwhile, decided to point other issues contained within the picture – such as April’s choice of footwear:
\u201c@AprilDespain The gays hate your cargo shorts way more than whatever you have written on that flag\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
\u201c@AprilDespain\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
\u201c@AprilDespain usually flags are simple to provide a clear message that can be understood quickly\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
\u201c@AprilDespain I think you misunderstood how flags are supposed to work. They are quick identifiers; you don\u2019t print a whole story on a flag.\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
\u201c@AprilDespain\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
\u201c@AprilDespain That's the gayest thing I've ever seen.\u201d— April Wilde Despain (@April Wilde Despain) 1685674437
\u201cPutting up a flag with 78 paragraphs written in 3 pt. on my front yard and then calling the police when people walk onto my lawn to attempt to read it\u201d— Kristin Chirico (@Kristin Chirico) 1685759540
April has since doubled down following the ridicule, sharing the image again several hours later and writing: “Uh oh. All the ‘inclusive’ and ‘tolerant’ have found my tweet and are mocking my family bc we dare to believe differently than them.
“I’m so sad. Oh well.
“To all them I say: here’s another pic of us enjoying what we believe about gender, sexuality, identity and love.”
And thus, the memeing continued all other again…
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