The colors of the rainbow, that’s why they represent the Lgbtq+ community – Corriere.it

Even before it even started, the World Championship in Qatar brought with it week after week a myriad of controversies. Many protested against Fifa’s decision to assign the world championship tournament to Country on the Arabian Peninsula. And there have also been many reports, investigations and documentaries that have revealed all the critical points and problems of the organization of this controversial World Cup, the last one with 32 teams (from 2026, in Canada-United States-Mexico, there will be 48) . Among the many thorny cases, the one opposed by the Doha government is certainly the rainbow band. And a hand was given by Fifa which forbade the captains of the national teams present in Qatar not to wear the OneLove armband, hosting the rainbow heart in support of the Lgbtq+ community. Otherwise, the captains would have even been booked.

The federations have made an about-face and the world’s top football body has missed a great opportunity to open up to the world. Naturally, the backlash against this decision was strong. Just think of the hands in front of the mouth, in the group photo before the match against Japan (November 23), of Germany, to symbolize the gag placed by Fifa. A shot that will go down in history and that none of us will ever forget. But going back to the band, why are rainbow colors used to symbolize proximity to the Lgbtq+ community? The use of the colors of the rainbow, initially in the form of a flag, was born in San Francisco in 1978, almost ten years after the Stenewall riots in New York (the clashes between homosexual groups and the police on June 27, 1969, the date on which the homosexual movement historically began). It was invented by Gilbert Baker, a former army veteran, gay activist and artist, who died at the age of 65 in March 2017. Asking him to create a symbol to be waved in the parade to represent the claims of the movement, Harvey Milk, the first exponent of the institutions openly gay Americans, assassinated in November of that same year. An immediate success because everyone, at the time, immediately identified with that rainbow. Non-random choice: bright colors – from yellow to green to purple – have historically been used and worn by homosexuals to identify and recognize each other. Pink, on the other hand, is a reference to the pink triangle that the Nazis gave to homosexual deportees in the camps. And it was like wanting to regain possession of pink, which went from the color of pain and persecution to the color of pride.

Initially there were 8 colors, related to 8 different aspects of life (pink-sex; red-life; orange-healing; yellow-sunlight; green-nature; turquoise-magic; blue-peace and purple spirit), then they became 6 for very practical reasons: the pink dye was very expensive and the blue and turquoise merged into the azure. Over the years it has become a symbol of harmony, love and respect for all diversity. And it has become part of contemporary culture and a tool for social sharing regardless of one’s orientation. So powerful as to be opposed. And that’s why it scares a Country where homosexuality is a crime and there is no legal recognition for gay couples. And the complicity of Fifa hurts. That s, this time, he missed an opportunity.