Pineapple Pride
by: Bob Hannaford
I have always been a supporter of Pride, in fact, I have been an Ally for the LGBTQ+ community for as long as I can remember. I guess it started in college because, before then, I didn’t know anyone that was gay, bi, a lesbian, etc… I grew up in central Florida and most of my friends I met were at a Pentecostal church. No gay friends there.
Then things changed.
When I went to college, I thought I might be the only straight person there. I was in a fine arts college in the early 80s. It was when New Wave was just starting, David Bowie was popular at my school and most of the students were either gay or something very different from me.
Later I joked that Tess & I were the only two straight people at our college and that is why we ended up getting married. Five years later, she came out as Bi-sexual, and a few years ago so did I. I guess there were no straight people at the Atlanta College of Art back in the early 80s.
The RuPaul Effect
The local bar we went to was 18 and older and the MC was RuPaul.
RuPaul was just 23 years old back then, it would be another 25 years before he/she would become “known” and popular. The world was not ready for RuPaul back in 1983, but they sure love RuPaul now (I always have).
Getting to know so many diverse people at art college allowed me to become very comfortable and accepting of different sexualities because I studied with them, got to know them, played ping pong, and drank dirty paint water (when drunk) with them. They were my family when I was in college. I didn’t really think about anyone as that different from me, because they weren’t.
Most people I know that do not support gay rights are people that don’t know gay people. They only know what they see in movies and on TV, something that has evolved over the years and has been an important part of the level of acceptance in the past 25 years or so.
Until then, the only portrayals of gay people were stereotypes like Dr. Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was only seen by more progressive people and art students early on.
The more “normal” characters that were featured in TV roles, the more the culture changes and acceptance followed. Shows like Will & Grace broke with traditional TV norms and brought a gay leading character to mainstream USA. Shows like Queer as Folk and The L Word followed and Netflix added Senses 8 and Orange is the New Black to help not only get streaming off the ground, but more people watching gay people on TV.
TV really helped the LGBTQ+ movement progress forward.
People liked these characters. The characters became people America was interested in and they tuned in to see what would happen next to Will & Grace or Sophia on OITNB (the first trans woman of color in a major tv show).
Even Dick Cheney became an advocate once he found out his daughter was gay. Even a man with no heart could love a gay person, they just needed to know and love one. It’s amazing how that works.
Being Accepted
A few years ago, I wanted my bar in Zipolite, MX to participate in Pride Month but I was told that I couldn’t. Apparently, I wasn’t “gay enough”. It’s weird how bisexual people somehow get left out of the party, even though the B in LGBT is for Bisexual.
In Zipolite, there is a restaurant that created a take on a BLT sandwich called the LGBT Sandwich. It’s made with lettuce, guacamole, bacon & tomatoes. I am not only one of the letters, I am the bacon dammit. That’s the best part of the LGBT sandwich.
It took a minute, but they let my bar host one of the events. I was finally included in an LGBT+ festival, but I still didn’t quite feel included.
I have watched and cheered on many Pride parades from my old French Quarter balcony. I hung rainbow flags and clapped and cheered as a carnival of characters marched by.
Mexico City was the first Gay Parade I participated in. I had come out as Bisexual the year before and I wanted to participate and I wanted to march myself. One of the popular gay bars in town (Chizme), spearheaded the rental of a big 18-wheeler for the parade, so people in Mexico City would know that our tiny little town was very “gay-friendly”. It was part advertisement, part celebration, and for me a big step forward, where I was part of the parade, not just an ally.
I still didn’t feel like I really belonged.
Why? I asked myself, why? These were my friends, these were my people. But I still felt like a fringe member and not fully accepted into this community.
I am bisexual, but that is just one aspect of who I am. I am also non-monogamous, and that takes up more of my daily life than my Bisexual side. Maybe others see me as a part-timer. I don’t know, all I know is that it shouldn’t be this hard to find where I belong.
Pineapple Pride
In the past several years, the upside-down pineapple has caught traction to give a symbol to people who practice non-monogamy. There have been many other attempts to create a symbol for “swingers” and each fizzled out. For some reason, this upside-down pineapple succeeded where all the others failed.
I was messing around with some pineapples to include in our Naughty Store and boom, I had an idea. What if I took a vibrant, rainbow-colorful pineapple and add it to a pride flag? As soon as I found the perfect pineapple, it just happened. I don’t know how to describe it, but for the first time, I saw myself in those flags. When I added the Pride Pineapple to the Bisexual flag, it instantly resonated with me. This is who I am. Now I know where I belong.
I pictured myself carrying the Pineapple Bisexual Pride flag in Pride parades and our upcoming Sexual Freedom Parade. I added the colorful pineapple to a basic rainbow flag and it looked beautiful. Whether or not you are one of the alphabets (LGBT+) or not, you can carry a rainbow flag with this rainbow-colored pineapple and you are now an ally of both non-monogamy AND Pride.
I looked at the Progress Pride flag, one of my favorites because it stood for progress forward and moving ahead because of the arrow on the right-hand side. It is a rainbow flag, but they added the pink and white colors used to symbolize Trans people, which is not on most pride flags. It also added black and brown to honor marginalized People of Color (POC) communities and those we lost due to HIV/AIDS.
I couldn’t figure out where to put the pineapple, so I settled on two designs. You just can’t have too much progress in a Pride flag.
Over the years, the Pride Flag has changed many times. Usually adding colors and elements to be more inclusive by adding more colors and stripes. I hope my Pineapple Progress Pride Flag will be accepted. All I know is that I feel more accepted just by having my own flag that now includes an important part of myself (non-monogamy).
A Welcome Place
Naughty Events was always about giving people a place to feel safe and to be themselves. No matter if you are into BDSM, are bi, are non-monogamous, or are gay or straight, we don’t care. We want to provide you with a home.
We want to give as much knowledge as possible, through our educational program and then provide you with a safer space to act out those fantasies and feelings you have. No one can take those feelings away and no one can tell you that you do not belong.
Because you do belong here.
And I finally feel like I belong, even outside our “Naughty bubble”. I can’t wait to march this year. It’s been 25 years since I started hosting these events and that’s a long time to take to find yourself.
I hope you find yourself too.
If you want to have a Pineapple Pride Flag of your own, you can check out our new Naughty Store and order one today.
