Saw something about alloace people stealing the idea of an alloa flag from alloaros, but don’t most pride flags with counterparts start with one? Is it bad to use the alloace flag?
Thank you, anon, for asking this respectfully.
(There’s too many non-respectful, insulting, allo-aro-antagonistic and even cissexist asks in my inbox on the subject of flags.)
I agree with you: it's common in LGBTQIA+ spaces for pride flags to use other pride flags as a reference point, particularly when it comes to related terms and shared symbols or colours.
I, personally, take no issue with the concept of allo-aces using a flag that was inspired in its colour symbolism by the allo-aro flag. As much as I dislike the ways Tumblr pairs allo-aros and allo-aces in content (flag edit posts, positivity) as though "allo" is equivalent to "demi" or “flux” or “grey”, I see the symbolism in taking the allo-aro flag and transforming it in asexual-flag styling to suit allo-ace needs. (It makes sense given that our yellow/golds were chosen by @arotaro because they’re opposite on the colour wheel from purple and aro green was historically chosen because it is opposite from red.) I don't view it as "stolen" any more than I would another flag inspired by another flag.
Pride flag culture is, like fandom and fanworks, transformative.
What I take issue with is individual allo-aces or groups of allo-aces using a flag that was inspired by the allo-aro flag while engaging in, perpetrating, condoning and/or ignoring allo-aro antagonism and erasure.
The allo-ace flag doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's not disconnected from the ways allo-aces treat allo-aros--and the ways allo-aros have come to feel about allo-aces. It’s not disconnected from the ways the allo-ace and allo-aro flags appear together in solidarity/positivity posts that are entirely at odds with the ways allo-aces frequently treat allo-aros. It's not just four stripes on a flag that happen to be inspired by ours because of related a-spec symbolism.
I, personally, don't see not using the allo-ace flag as a viable solution. How is that going to change things? (Very likely, folks will switch to another flag and keep on with the same old erasure.) Allo-ace identity is important, and if allo-aces like and relate to the symbolism of the red/purple flag, they should be able to keep using it. (I definitely don’t want to police allo-ace identity and pride the way folks are trying to do with me, which is also a subject of anon asks.) When allo-aros discuss our frustrations with the context of the allo-ace flag, we're not doing it because we object to another a-spec identity's expression of pride.
We're trying to express how unfair it feels that allo-aces are using a symbol inspired by ours while creating and/or overlooking their involvement in an a-spec culture that treats and dismisses allo-aros as third-class a-spec citizens.
The relationship between allo-aros and allo-aces is a much broader subject than the origins and use of one flag. At the same time that flag is, because of the circumstances of its making, eminently symbolic of said relationship.
That doesn’t always come across in frustration-fuelled posts (often made to allo-aros by allo-aros in our tags/spaces, where everyone’s aware of the context and further elaboration isn’t needed, or as short vent posts). It looks like we’re just complaining about one flag being inspired by ours, which can easily be misunderstood as petty, hateful or policing at odds with transformative pride flag culture. But our feelings run far deeper than that, and that’s a hard thing to see if you’re outside the allo-aro community.
I can only speak my opinion, but I want allo-aces to use the current flag (if that’s what you decide you want to use, because you have the right to celebrate allo-ace identity with community-decided symbolism, language and pride colours).
I want allo-aces to use and take pride in the allo-ace flag with an accompanying spirit of valuing, supporting and encouraging allo-aro contributions to our shared a-spec community.
I want allo-aces to use and take pride in the allo-ace flag while acknowledging the accompanying fundamental necessity to recognise, challenge and halt the allo-aro erasure and antagonism common in the asexual and a-spec communities.
I want allo-aces to use and take pride in the allo-ace flag while recognising that such use must carry the obligation to respect allo-aros.
Until that point, though, I think the allo-aro community is fair to look at some uses of the allo-ace flag in frustration and pain (especially those solidarity posts that gloss over the reality of the allo-aro-and-allo-ace relationship). The flag is not stolen, and I don’t think it should be referred to as such, but its careless use by allo-aces without accompanying recognition of the way many so often harm allo-aros is contentious.
Does all this make sense, anon?
Note 1: I’m not the creator of the allo-aro flag that inspired the allo-ace flag, and I think @arotaro‘s feelings in this situation, in terms of ongoing use of flags, should carry far more weight than mine.
Note 2: The flag we’re discussing is by @varioriented-pride, who does a lot to reblog allo-aro visual/flag-edit content on an account devoted to a wide variety of varioriented folks, a category that includes allo-aros and allo-aces alike. (I regularly reblog their* posts over here, in fact.) I haven’t seen them engage in allo-aro erasure or antagonism; they stand as an example for the kind of allyhood and support I am asking.
(* Apologies if I have misgendered: I can’t find any mention of pronouns!)
Note 3: There is a second allo-ace flag by @flagify that isn't directly inspired by the allo-aro flag. I am in no way making a statement as to whether allo-aces should or shouldn't use it; I'm simply observing its existence.
