![]() ![]() It is not surprising therefore, that many of the same people outraged over the poppy are those who buy into false information. They seek to claim authority over who is and is not worthy of our remembrance. In the same way, Pride Month doesn’t mean that LQBTQ+ issues are unworthy of comment for the rest of the year.įor many critics, the real goal is to weaponize the poppy. Black History Month doesn’t mean we should ignore the history of people of colour for the rest of the year. I fail to see that building one community up has to mean tearing another one down. To me, this is nothing short of tribalism. They make the case that ‘you get a whole month, while our soldiers only get a minute’. Those who take the most issue with the rainbow poppy cite pride month. Sadly, the answer appears mostly to be rooted in lingering homophobic attitudes. Why then does the rainbow poppy cause such contention? ![]() White poppies, which serve to remember those non-combatants who have died in war, were first introduced by the Peace Pledge Union in 1934. The practice of colouring poppies in this way is not a modern phenomenon either. Later, the purple poppy, which commemorates service animals was available between 20. The black poppy campaign was launched in 2010 to honour soldiers of an African or Caribbean background. ![]() It is worth noting that the idea of a different coloured poppy for different kinds of remembrance is not new. Especially at a time when they still heavily persecuted for their sexuality or gender identity. Celebrated LGBTQ+ poet laureate Trudy Howson raised the idea of a poppy coloured with the rainbow flag in order to commemorate those soldiers who died in the First World War. But why is a rainbow coloured poppy such an issue? And why are the LGBTQ+ community as a whole being taken to task for it? It brings with it the toxic and all-too-familiar dog whistles of ‘I’m not homophobic but…’ and ‘I don’t care what you identify as, just don’t shove it in my face’. Those of us who exist within the Queer spaces of social media will no doubt have been confronted with the ‘rainbow poppy’ controversy. ![]()
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