#LoveWins! LGBTQ Bloggers Make Their Voices Heard
We’re so proud to provide a platform for all the incredibly talented LGBTQ writers who are advocating for change and sharing their stories on WordPress.com.
You might have noticed the rainbow banner across the top of WordPress.com over the weekend — our way of marking Pride month, celebrated by cities across the globe in June, as well as the US Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage across all states. (The United States now joins 20 other countries, including my own, Portugal, in fully recognizing same-sex marriage nationwide.)
Here at WordPress.com we strive to democratize publishing and empower freedom of speech. It’s amazing to see the thoughtful analyses of the Supreme Court’s decision already being published, like this excellent piece from Tropics of Meta putting the decision into long-term historical context. We’re also proud to provide a platform for all the incredibly talented LGBTQ writers who are advocating for change and sharing their stories, like…
- Let’s Queer Things Up!, written by transgender activist Sam Dylan Finch. We appreciate how open Sam is about all aspects of his life, from his fraught relationship with psychiatry to the best affordable chest binders.
- Bully Bloggers, an excellent group blog on “everything queer” from five professors from NYU, Dartmouth College, USC, and the University of Arizona. If you need a break after their analysis of the Irish same-sex marriage referendum, plant your tongue in your cheek and visit their “Freedom to Marry our Pets Society” page.
- Conner Habib, a writer, public speaker, and sex-workers’ advocate who penned the incredibly popular (and thought-provoking) piece, “Why do gay porn stars kill themselves?“
Pride parade, San Francisco. Image by Pete Rosos, 2812 Photography.
WordPress.com bloggers were also out and about with their rainbow flags this weekend, participating in pride parades from Los Angeles to Lisbon and capturing the days in pictures:
- Key West, Florida, via Ron Mayhew Photography.
- Toronto, Ontario, via Michelle Bozzette Media.
- Barcelona, Spain, via Transient Eye.
- Seattle, Washington, via Seattle to Shanghai. (Bonus: the Seattle Pride website is powered by WordPress, as are Atlanta’s and Vancouver’s!)
- Istanbul, Turkey, via Quartz (a less-than-joyous occasion that shows just how important it is to elevate LGBTQ voices).
- London, England, via Paris London Style.
- And of course, San Francisco, California, via 2812 Photography!
Pride parade, Key West, Florida, USA.
Photo by Ron Mayhew Photography.
We also had the pleasure of launching a website for Double Duchess, an energetic queer musical duo from the San Francisco Bay Area who just released their latest album. And check out the new tees and tanks added to the WordPress swag store in early June, in honor of Pride month — it’s the first time that we’ve made the same design available in a such wide, inclusive range of colors, fits, and body shapes! All the profits support the WordPress Foundation, which helps ensure that the free, downloadable version of WordPress is cutting edge, powerful, and ready for whoever wants to have a voice on the web.
Automattic is committed to diversity as a company (and we’re hiring!), and to providing tools that let anyone use the web to tell their truths and work for equality. Happy Pride!
WordPress.com News 
Civil rights are EVERYONE’S rights in this country!!!!!
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Congratulations. But a lot of people have different opinions that should be respected rather than forcing a rainbow in their face. Write a blog with your opinion rather than coopting the whole community.
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Our company supports equality, and we wanted to express that sentiment after the Supreme Court ruling. The bar was never visible to external visitors to your site, and, now that Pride weekend is behind us, we’ve removed the Rainbow bar from all pages.
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Thank you for this
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#LoveWins 😀
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THANK YOU for forcing the rainbow in my face…I loved it and would like it back! There are so many people who are in love and devoted to each other, who couldn’t marry. Now they can…excellent progress. Love wins…the way it should be.
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Thanks for the embracing of equality! It’s good to know I’m writing on a page that supports equal rights!
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The rainbow, which is a biblical message as well, which is of hope. I am grateful for the recognition of WordPress. I thank you for supporting hope AND equality.
oxoxox
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Equal rights for everyone.
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I support equal rights! Just remember that getting married may also end up in divorce and they are costly… 😉
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Great stuff!
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Congratulations! Love wins. As a Christian, I support equality for all. I was very disturbed by some of the comments in the WP Forums when bloggers asked to have the beautiful rainbow banner removed. Jesus said absolutely nothing about homosexuality. Romans 1 written by Paul was about the sex trade industry not love between consenting adults. Just want to let people know that not all Christians are bigots.
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Wonderful. FYI, Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska, Minnesota has been flying the rainbow flag prominently at the corner of Engler Blvd. and State Highway 41 for the the past four months. Last week was a GOOD week!
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How can anyone complain about rainbows? I’m always looking for them when the sun comes out after the rain so I can take a photograph. And according to my Irish ancestors, rainbows are lucky. I am sad to see WordPress take it down, as it was a bright spot on every screen. #LoveWins! 🙂
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The rainbow bar was temporary (and like I mentioned before, only showed up on WordPress.com’s own pages – never on users’ blogs and sites), but we hope to celebrate pride and equality yearly!
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Equal Dignities #LoveWins
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The hate and intolerance that climbed out of the woodwork in the support forum was I guess predictable by those afraid of something – – was so sad to see the hate
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It seems a bit unusual to me that your celebration of this particular event takes center stage on your news blog. Normally, the WordPress.com News announcements relate to a policy change, a software innovation, a new theme for blogs, a celebration of a milestone in WordPress’s business history. I just wonder why this particular event garnered such a large share of attention from WordPress. It is your news, so it is yours to decide. However, there are many great events in the world that could be recognized. Why is this one more important than all of them?
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WordPress.com News
is our news blog and it’s also our main space to celebrate/amplify the many voices on .com. Here’s just a sample of the topics we’ve covered and the voices we’ve published over the last year:
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Marriage is a contract between consenting adults. The state has never had a legitimate right to prevent consenting adults who wish to enter that contract from doing so, and your Supreme Court reached the final, correct and just decision on this matter. I am so happy that equality in marriage contracting and love prevailed in your country as it has also done in mine.
♫ Alleluia! ♫
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If I wanted a rainbow theme on something that I wanted to look at, I would’ve put one on there. Find a way to ensure that those of us who do not want to celebrate this event yearly or any other time can opt out.
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As I posted in an earlier comment, the bar was never visible to external visitors to your site, only in our WordPress.com pages.
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It’s love and more is needed to make the world a better place to live in
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I totally support the decision, and those countries who have reached the same one earlier. My gay and lesbian friends in Europe have already married.
My gripe, is, that for someone who is visually challenged, the rainbow was very disruptive. Much as I agree with the decision, I am pleased the rainbow has gone. No idea whether you run ideas through people with visual problems, but if you don’t, maybe an idea in future.
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Thank you for the feedback
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I have always enjoyed the rainbow as a reminder of God’s creation. For He is the one who created the rainbow and established it’s purpose. Here are his own words: “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” Genesis 9:13-15 ESV
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This makes such a good point. Never thought of gay pride in this perspective.
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To celebrate I wrote a blog post on my favorite LGBT characters in literature: https://lauraoosterbeek.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/the-best-lgbt-characters-in-literature/
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I loved the rainbow bar. (You forgot us in your article… we are well on our way to our 2 millionth read!!) http://www.evolequals.com
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Thank you! It’s so reassuring that society is continuing to improve so eventually everyone can be themselves and feel comfortable.
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Spain recognized same-sex marriage in 2005. Well done! 😉
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And my country, Portugal, in 2010. Times of positive changes in the world!
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Action speaks louder than words! Our Society needs to learn how to adopt things in life and acceptance is the key to a better world. There is a much more problem that we all need to focus and help resolve rather than bashing and mocking those two people who just want to express their love and be respected with their decisions. Religion doesn’t defy a person being close to God. God is my shepherd and I am happy for the new freedom which became official ! Spread love, not hate!
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I recognize that the rainbow was not visible to my readers and I thank you for that, but in future years, I would prefer to be given the option of seeing it.
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So proud to be a part of a country that understands that love is love is love is love is love.
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I believe that you celebrating equality is exactly what we need. Everyone deserves to be happy, not only happy but able to love whoever they may love and not be criticized for that. Love is Love!
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Thank you WordPress for supporting equality!
Down with the confederate flag,
raise the rainbow flag high;
Love wins over mankind.
#hgrobert #micropoetry
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Love It! Congratulations to us all!
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I had written this article more than a month ago when the Irish referendum happened i just want to share this again 🙂
https://inthepostscript.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/it-takes-courage-to-be-a-gay/
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Loved the rainbow WP ❤ Sad to see it go. Looking forward to it next year. xx
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Yet another dent in discrimination. For that I am grateful, encouraged and inspired.
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Just sharing an ongoing project titled – Doodles | Side with Pride // http://wp.me/py8w6-1CN.
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Loved the rainbow banner. Congratulation to our American friends for the historic equal marriage decision of the Supreme Court. On this side of the pond we had a spectacular London Pride event on Saturday which brought the city to a joyous standstill. But then the very next day Istanbul Pride was broken up by the Turkish Police with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon. So there’s still much to do to make our world a fairer, more equal place.
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BRAVO!!! I loved seeing the Rainbow Banner on WordPress celebrating gay rights and freedom to wed. Wonderful day for us all.
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That’s called the power of Love, it wins against all odds, even when it is against the orthodoxial views over sexual orientation. Hope India will learn a lesson.
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I love and respect this author, although I disagree with part of this article’s direction. There are a lot of Christian bloggers who feel mis-characterized as “haters of gays”. This is not a popular time to be believers and doers of The Word. I have 2 points. (1) It is unfair and unproductive to call everyone who disagrees with you a hater or homophobe. The overwhelming majority of Christians I know love you… our leader will accept no less. (2) I’m grateful to WordPress for being willing to let opposing parties free access to express their opinions. It takes strength not to silence opposing viewpoints. I have a sound-off forum, and would love to hear your thoughts.
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As one of the LGBTQ bloggers on WordPress, I loved the rainbow and let rainbows take over my blog for a bit. (I know I did more than one post about this.) I am grateful that you are a company that values equality and it makes me happy that I blog in a place that values everyone.
Thank you. (And that rainbow was really cool.)
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Yay yay yay! #LoveWins.
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It was fun to see the rainbow banner pop up this weekend. Thank you for making WordPress inclusive and for championing the rights of those who have so much to lose.
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I loved seeing the rainbow pop up on my screen. I’m so impressed with how you run things here and am glad to be a part of it. Love you guys!
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This ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is a big deal in my family. My oldest son is gay and was legally married in Massachusetts a few years ago. We had a Commitment Ceremony in 2007 which at the time was a way to celebrate their commitment to each other. My son and his husband very much wanted same sex marriages to be legal in every state. Amazingly it took a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to finally afford gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals.
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Why does everything have to be so political? I am so tired of all this lgbt in your face stuff.
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Love won.
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im so proud to be gay hey… tough im not American
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This was a really important event to me, and despite being biased on the subject, I decided to make a personal post on identity discussing how the extent of exclusion involved with being LGBTQ has affected my life: http://dailychange.club/2015/06/26/authors-note-on-identity-lovewins/ . I appreciate all comments.
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