Today someone emailed the newsroom with a link to the straight flag and a note that said, “I think this is going to be huge in Utah; have you heard of it yet?”

If you look around the site, you’ll see that the company claims, “We are not anti-anything. We do not encourage hate.” (As opposed to the scary-conservative StraightPride.com. While noble to proclaim neutrality (or apathy?), it’s still a little fishy that the flag’s “color principles” include tradition, faith, and purity, among others. (Though StraightFlag.com is much nicer a site than StraightPride.com.)

Of course, I’m not at all saying that “gay pride” cannot, or does not, include those attributes, but we all know that our rabidly-stupid right-wing crazies use those buzz-words for oppressive purposes.

I agree that there’s nothing wrong with, as the site says, being “just proud” and “believing in who [you] are.”

But the (possibly) well-intentioned folks over at StraightFlag.com fail to realize that the purpose of “pride” as a movement is to create equality for, and within, an oppressed group. It’s about reclaiming a positive identity for yourself after it has been stripped from you by years of nay-sayers and abuse - simply for being who you are. It’s about creating self-esteem after yours has been damaged by a straight society. Gay pride is about realizing you’re not evil, godless, going to hell, or dozens of horrible other things we’ve probably all cried about at one time or another.

Don’t get me wrong, I realize that modern pride is as much about an excuse to party (in whatever way you define “party”). But pride’s original intent was much more than that, and it’s still intact under all the glitz, drag, and leather.

Why does a straight community need to make an obvious effort toward pride when pretty much the whole world is “proud” of heterosexuality at birth? Isn’t that enough?

Having pride in a community that is rarely, if ever, put down or denied anything is more than a little bit greedy.