this post was submitted on
623 points (88% like it)
712 up votes 89 down votes

ainbow

unsubscribe15,622 readers

~28 users here now

A free area for the discussion of issues facing those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and all other sexual or nonsexual orientations and/or gender identities. Post links to articles, self-posts, photographs, experiences and whatever else is important to your experience of queer life. We encourage you to treat others with respect, start and/or engage in robust discussion and interact with the community. The more we know each other, the better we'll get along.

Want stickers? Yeah you do!

Want flair?

Get it up top ⇧ by clicking the (edit) button!
Don't know the flags? We have these available:

  • Rainbow flag
  • Transgender flag
  • Bisexual flag
  • Asexual flag
  • Genderqueer flag
  • Pansexual flag
  • Ally flag

In the box below the flag grid, you can set custom text for your flair! You can put whatever you like; explain what the flag means to you, tell us where you're from, what you like, whatever! Note: if someone hasn't specified custom text, you won't see anything by their flag.

We also have spliced versions of the trans and genderqueer flags (thanks, WTFcannuck!), for those with dual citizenship. Choose whatever flag feels right; this isn't an ID card, it's just a fun way to show your colors.

Want these flags on your subreddit? They're open source! Check out the /r/ainbow flair on github.

A note on moderation

This subreddit is lightly moderated. The community actively self-moderates offensive comments with downvotes, but comments are not removed except for violations of site-wide guidelines and as outlined below. If you prefer a more hands-on approach, try /r/lgbt. /r/lgbt requires trigger warnings, and removes comments and users for violations of their rules, which are detailed in their FAQ.

This subreddit is a free speech zone (although gratuitous eye candy is specifically discouraged). It is also lightly moderated, which means that it's up to you the community to downvote offensive posts and comments, and upvote constructive content. Please use your voting and posting powers to create the community you want to see.

NOTE: Comments and/or posts that threaten violence, incite violence, expose personal information about others without their consent, or contain illegal content will be removed. Please use the "report" button on only these types of posts. Contact the moderators if a post/comment has been removed in error.

/r/ainbow FAQ (work in progress)


Related Subreddits (WIP)

Related Projects

R/AINBOW IRC

#rainbow on irc.snoonet.com

created by synsparkMike Myers' Adopted Step-sona community for
message the moderators

MODERATORS

reddit is a source for what's new and popular online. vote on links that you like or dislike and help decide what's popular, or submit your own! learn more ›

all 79 comments

[–]tossabyqueen of swords 56 points57 points ago

Shit, I'm coming out tomorrow. I'VE TIMED THIS ALL WRONG.

[–]firstaccounttempI hate limbo... 17 points18 points ago

Quick! Change your plans!

Kidding. Good luck though. I'm heavily debating using this as that last push to come out to my parents today. Or possibly tomorrow.

[–]voiceofdissent 17 points18 points ago

When you're in that part of the closet (out, but not yet to the "important" people in your life), tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in its petty pace until the last syllable of recorded time.

[–]Riskae 8 points9 points ago

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out out brief candle! Life is but a poor player that struts and frets his our upon the stage and then is forgotten. it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying noting.

That was from memory let me go check myself...

EDIT: I was pretty close,

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing." -MacBeth (Act 5, Scene 5)

[–]firstaccounttempI hate limbo... 1 point2 points ago

Yeah... which is why I'm basically looking at today as a specific date I should do it on. Not really because it's a national whatever, but I need something to push me over that edge. Which means I'm planning on coming out in... a couple hours. Just a little nerve racking.

[–]CakesArePies 7 points8 points ago

It's always tomorrow. I remember how it works

[–]JesusLizardLizardMouse to Ferret 5 points6 points ago

I hope it goes well!

[–]tossabyqueen of swords 2 points3 points ago

Thanks! I think I've figured most of this stuff out, so I'm celebrating by coming out to my brother. Party hard and all that.

[–]Missfreeland 2 points3 points ago

I came out tomorrow...5 years ago!

[–]Jerry_0809 30 points31 points ago

Today's the day I tell my parents.

[–]KulaanDoDinokLes-Bi-Gay Together! 10 points11 points ago

Good luck, dear! :)

[–]Wingslapped 17 points18 points ago

I want to come out to my parents this weekend. I didn't admit to myself that I'm bi until 30. My teenage crushes on Captain Janeway, Dax, and Kira should have clued me in.

I've been using my parents ugly legal battle with my grandparents as an excuse to put off not telling them. The real reason is that I'm afraid. My parents are liberal, but we've never talked much about lgbt isssues. I don't know what kind of reaction to expect from them.

In July I found out my unrequited love for my best friend isn't unrequited. For over a year, we've been planning for me to move in with him and go to graduate school. We're both serious about our relationship. He is transitioning ftm.

I'm hoping that my parents will take things well.

[–]shadowclone12 10 points11 points ago

Your taste in crushes is excellent. Good luck!

[–]MoltenLavaMoon 2 points3 points ago

Good luck! When I came out to my parents they were supportive but confused, so they ended up being unintentionally offensive a lot. Just be prepared, when you do come out, you might have to do a lot of explaining so that they fully understand what's going on with your and your best friend. I mean, or not, you know! It's up to you!

[–]strawberrywobbler 0 points1 point ago

I had a huge crush on Kira when I was young :D

[–]shnargen 16 points17 points ago

Oh man I didn't realize, WHAT A PERFECT DAY FOR A FIRST DATE. I'm only out to close friends and immediate family, but I'm scared to come out further. I told myself last year that I would be completely out by today but I think I'm going to have to wait. I really don't want to deal with drama.

[–]BasedTebow 6 points7 points ago

Be strong. :)

[–]tech-no-logical 15 points16 points ago

It seems we have one in the Netherlands too. Saw this in my newspaper this moring (seems there's a focus on coming out for athletes this year, being gay and e.g. a professional soccer player is still taboo). Pity that even the largest LGBT support organisation (COC) can't seem to get the rainbow quite right though...

[–]CakesArePies 3 points4 points ago

Lol no green

[–]cecinestpasunepony 1 point2 points ago

There is.

In the background.

[–]CakesArePies 1 point2 points ago

No green on the flag*

Touché regardless.

[–]zargy 13 points14 points ago

And today's my birthday. My birthday falls on a national day!

HOLY SHIT.

[–]frogdog123 12 points13 points ago

Coincidentally this is my IRL birthday too...

[–]SwissCanuck 17 points18 points ago

You and zargy have to kiss now. Its in the rules.

And today's my birthday. My birthday falls on a national day! HOLY SHIT.

[–]deadymcstevejobs 11 points12 points ago

I recently changed my facebook info to attracted to men, but nobody noticed. I wonder it would be attention whore-ish to post this as well...

[–]mythin 11 points12 points ago

It's your Facebook page. The page is quite literally all about you. It's no more or less attention whorish than anything else you might post. Good luck in whichever direction you decide to go!

edit: Auto-complete on my phone put in "laterally" instead of "literally" because I wasn't paying attention.

[–]deadymcstevejobs 2 points3 points ago

I decided to do it. I've already told most of my friends, but great success overall

[–]mythin 1 point2 points ago

I'm really happy everything is going well for you!

[–]deadymcstevejobs 1 point2 points ago

Thanks. I'm more or less wrapping up a year long coming out process. Only had a handful of conflicts over it.

[–]wwwwolfNarrator Figure 5 points6 points ago

A while ago I randomly changed my Xbox Live avatar to female. No one noticed because the character looks almost the same. =)

[–]EagerSlothWrangler 3 points4 points ago

Like #CountMeOut on FB....

[–]tsunamibird 10 points11 points ago

.....The rest of the world aside, I'm still working on coming out to myself...

[–]justanother_onymousProud Eagle, but still trying to fly. 0 points1 point ago

The rest of the world can wait

[–]tsunamibird 1 point2 points ago

hey thanks, I was sorta nervous to post this because I'm afraid sometimes that because I can't tell exactly where I stand that I'm somehow a fake or going through a phase. I was honestly hoping my comment would go completely unnoticed but your little sentence was really nice and unexpectedly uplifting. Thank you.

[–]justanother_onymousProud Eagle, but still trying to fly. 0 points1 point ago

I'm glad :) I went through the same thing (and I still sometimes have those moments). Coming out to yourself is one of the hardest things to do, and in my opinion the most important. It can take years for someone to finally admit to themselves who they really are. Take your time, and don't be rushed into coming out to anybody until you love yourself first. Everyone else can wait.

In absolutely NO way can you be a 'fake' for not being sure about yourself. If anybody tells you that, tell them to stick it. I've had those thoughts before too (I don't shit rainbows or anything. Most people wouldn't know I'm gay from talking to me.) but that doesn't make me fake. As cliche as it sounds, only you know who you like and love, and that gives no one else the right to judge whether you're true or not.

[–]dream6601 8 points9 points ago

I wanted to come out to my parents today, but even though I'm 34, I'm afraid and I just can't do it :(

[–]justmissedthetrain 8 points9 points ago

you can do it when you're ready

[–]dream6601 3 points4 points ago

It's really stupid though becuase I know in my heart my sister told them years ago, and they have never said anything to me about it never asked me about it.

My gf told me that my mother hinted around that she knew something about my being trans but didn't want to talk about it.

I should be able to just say something but I know how they think.

[–]justmissedthetrain 2 points3 points ago

What do you think they'll say? Are they a big part of your life?

[–]dream6601 2 points3 points ago

It's more have shifted now to where I am a big part of their life, my dad has ALS and he's suffered a lot of depression because of that. So it used to be fear of how they could affect my life, now it's how I could effect his.

[–]justmissedthetrain 1 point2 points ago

ohhhhh I see. Good luck

[–]sycoraxfleetdoctor who and sherlock marathon 8 points9 points ago

I put "I'm so ace" as my facebook status and most people were none the wiser.

[–]theirfour 8 points9 points ago

As I was pan-frying dinner and watching my favorite Demi Moore movie, a queer thought hit me: my partner could take the transit to the intersection outside my apartment! That would be so ace!

"Let's be inside tonight", I told them over the phone, but straight away they said "I don't know, sis, it's already pretty late." A pall easily fell over the conversation. All I wanted was to spend time with them! At this age, under this kind of stress from work, the last place I want to be is an empty effing apartment, and getting turned down was a hefty embarassment.

"Bye", they said as I grabbed two spirits down from the shelf to make myself a cocktail.

I guess it was going to be one of those nights, questioning myself about what went wrong while the weight of the wind makes even the trees and the rain bow.

[–]sycoraxfleetdoctor who and sherlock marathon 7 points8 points ago

As I was pan-frying dinner and watching my favorite Demi Moore movie, a queer thought hit me: my partner could take the transit to the intersection outside my apartment! That would be so ace!

I love what you did there. Sorry to hear about that! You and I can have a kiki anytime!

[–]theirfour 4 points5 points ago

No worries, this isn't autobiographical. (Also, keep looking! There's more.)

[–]drunkenly_comments 2 points3 points ago

straight, questioning and rain bow?

edit: oh and sis. wee this is fun

[–]theirfour 0 points1 point ago

Barring the ones you and sycoraxfleet identified, there are seven eight more hidden in there somewhere. =)

EDIT: Fixed the number. I'd forgotten one myself.

[–]sycoraxfleetdoctor who and sherlock marathon 1 point2 points ago

cocktail, all I (ally), bye, pall ea (poly), partner (is that one?), ...

I can't find the other two. You're very clever!

[–]simdave2000 3 points4 points ago

"Let's be in..." = Lesbian. That's all I've got.

[–]theirfour 1 point2 points ago

Nice job on ally, bi, and poly. Cocktail and partner aren't really "identities" so to speak, so I wasn't counting those. That means only four five more!

Hints: two of them are kind of a stretch (the sounds don't correspond exactly like they should), one is pretty obvious though less well-known, and the other two have kind of fallen out of style and been replaced in recent discourse

Also this cleverness was done in response to yours, so credit goes to you for giving me the idea in the first place!

[–]marfalight 2 points3 points ago

TWO SPIRIT! :D I know that one!! Also it's hard for me to do this continually scrolling up and down so I've copied your original post, but I've bolded everyone else's confirmed "identifications" and bold italicized my guesses. So far I've got 1) Two spirit, 2) out, 3) effeminate, and 4) down (like on the down low? haha)

As I was pan-frying dinner and watching my favorite Demi Moore movie, a queer thought hit me: my partner could take the transit to the intersection outside my apartment! That would be so ace!

"Let's be inside tonight", I told them over the phone, but straight away they said "I don't know, sis, it's already pretty late." A pall easily fell over the conversation. All I wanted was to spend time with them! At this age, under this kind of stress from work, the last place I want to be is an empty effing apartment, and getting turned down was a hefty embarrassment.

"Bye", they said as I grabbed two spirits down from the shelf to make myself a cocktail. I guess it was going to be one of those nights, questioning myself about what went wrong while the weight of the wind makes even the trees and the rain bow.

[–]theirfour 1 point2 points ago

Guess I should probably go ahead and give the "answers":

As I was pan-frying1 dinner and watching my favorite Demi2 Moore movie, a queer3 thought hit me: my partner could take the transit4 to the intersection5 outside my apartment! That would be so ace!6

"Let's be inside7 tonight", I told them over the phone, but straight8 away they said "I don't know, sis9, it's already pretty late." A pall easily10 fell over the conversation. All I11 wanted was to spend time with them! At this age, under12 this kind of stress from work, the last place I want to be is an empty effing13 apartment, and getting turned down was a hefty embarassment.14

"Bye15", they said as I grabbed two spirits16 down from the shelf to make myself a cocktail.

I guess it was going to be one of those nights, questioning17 myself about what went wrong while the weight of the wind makes even the trees and the rain bow18.

1 Pan(sexual)

2 Demi(sexual)

3 Queer

4 Trans(*)

5 Intersex

6 Ace (asexual)

7 Lesbian

8 Straight

9 Cis

10 Poly(amorous)

11 Ally

12 Agender

13 MTF

14 FTM

15 Bi(sexual)

16 Two-spirit

17 Questioning

18 Rainbow

Note: I fully realize MTF and FTM are not the preferred terms anymore, but I put them in there to see if anyone would catch them. Also, I realize "rainbow" isn't an identity, but I needed a cheesy (and terribly shoehorned) way to wrap the thing up. "Down" for "down low" was not one I meant to include, but that was a pretty brilliant reading. Also, for any identities I left out, I'm sorry! It was definitely not intentional.

[–]DefenestrationExpert 7 points8 points ago

Coming out to my parents is not in anyone's best interests right now (okay, maybe mine, but I'm okay with waiting, because my parents don't need any more stress in their lives at the moment), but I wish the best of luck and courage to those who do tell anyone!

[–]nukefudgei can fly! 7 points8 points ago

there's a national coming out day?... where?

[–]firstaccounttempI hate limbo... 9 points10 points ago

Today's America's. Possibly other places to, but I don't know.

[–]wwwwolfNarrator Figure 3 points4 points ago

Well, almost no other place besides USA celebrates 10/11/12. The rest of the world needs to wait another month! And if you use ISO date formats, .srotarapes-sa-sehsad-esu-ylbacilpxeni-dna-sdrawkcab-etarbelec-ot-deen-uoy =)

[–]KulaanDoDinokLes-Bi-Gay Together! 5 points6 points ago

My PRIDE! group is having a day dedicated to it. Everyone has on some sort of pride clothing. I took my shirt (all white with PRIDE in rainbow letters), and fancied it up with some stick people on the front and some quotes on the back. Today's a good day. :)

[–]DanielTaylor 6 points7 points ago

*2012/10/11

[–]thecritic06 8 points9 points ago

11/10/12 in the UK. :P

[–]keine_panik 4 points5 points ago

11.10.12 in Germany... ;)

[–]SwissCanuck 5 points6 points ago

You have no idea how badly this fucks up badly-written software.

All our Macs have to be set to US Region because an editing plugin doesn't understand its main server anymore when the date format is different. grrr!

[–]cecinestpasunepony 2 points3 points ago

Oh god, using locale-dependant formats for MACHINE READABLE date formatting?

GIVE ME AN AXE.

AND THEIR ADDRESS.

NOW

[–]cecinestpasunepony 0 points1 point ago

*2012-10-11

[–]infinit3entropy 3 points4 points ago

I wish I had more than one upvote to give for such a perfect .gif

[–]Rizzetta 0 points1 point ago

11/10/12

[–]TheGirlImMeantToBe 2 points3 points ago

I dreamt last night that I would come out to my sister today. The weird thing is I wasn't even aware today was National Coming Out Day. O_o

[–]CaliCheeseSucksBusiness-Trans 2 points3 points ago

Having already come out, this is a x-post from my FB status:

Today is apparently National Coming Out day. Today, please remember all of those disowned, kicked out of their homes, and unable to come out because the people in their lives suck. This is a massive problem nobody talks about - I am unbelievably lucky to have great people in my own life, and I don't take that for granted. Thank you.

[–]KingQuagaarI love whoever I want, but don't always show it. 0 points1 point ago

On my real life cake day? Awesome! Hope everyone has a good time coming out today as I've had!

[–]grapthorLike a duck... 1 point2 points ago

Does it count if I'm already out?

[–]Anglo-Saxon 0 points1 point ago

Do you mean "Can I do it if I'm already out?"

If so, then of course!

[–]grapthorLike a duck... 0 points1 point ago

Err, no, I meant "does it count," and then my phone got in the way...

[–]beer-o-cat 0 points1 point ago

When I first signed up for Facebook, I didn't know "interested in" meant romantic/sexual relationships, and my 14 year old self thought it meant who you wanted to be friends with, and thought, of course I want to be friends with both genders! Turns out I am bi....so I guess it was prophetic...ha. To make this relevant, I am very causal about it since I live in quite a liberal area, but my parents, especially my step-dad are very conservative(so they don't know yet).

[–]huggableplum 0 points1 point ago

Yeah... still holding off for later. Though Tue parents are suspicious at this point

[–]Imwatchingyou69Nice wig Janice, what's it made of? 0 points1 point ago

This gif makes me laugh so hard. I wish it was like that.

[–]spursdude92 0 points1 point ago

Damn.... In England it was just 11/10/12... does that mean it's a month until our national coming out day? If so, I need to prepare

[–]dorino0net -1 points0 points ago

I missed it, but went ahead and "came out" to Facebook today instead.

I'm glad.

[–]bassgoonist 0 points1 point ago

I never came out as straight...but then again no one ever seemed to wonder if I was...damn I don't envy the position some people are in.

Good luck!

[–]VoiceofKane -1 points0 points ago

But 10/11/12 is next month...

[–]VampiricPotatoes 4 points5 points ago

In America it's MM/DD/YY, we have a pretty backwards system.