I haven’t been online much in the last 12 hours so this might be the dozenth post you’ve read about the subject of the banner pasted at the top of your stats page here on WordPress. If you’re already sick of hearing about it, by all means skip this. I just feel like saying something.
When Canada passed the same law to allow same-sex marriage nationwide ten years ago I was both happy for gay couples and proud of my country. That lasted about five minutes – it’s not a decision that affects me personally. And yet today I’m stuck with a reminder of something that still doesn’t matter to me on a personal level. Yes, it may seem petty to complain but it’s such a non-issue. Fantastic – people who are deserved of rights are given it. Yay! But why should I be forced to be reminded of it? And what about the hundreds of thousands of people who don’t agree?? I can easily see bloggers dropping WordPress like flies over this – where’s the sense, WordPress?
Let’s put it in a bit of perspective, shall we? What if they decided once and for all to abolish abortion nationwide in the U.S.? Would we be forced to look between the legs of women giving birth for the sake of those it desperately matters to? Or if Quebec chose finally to separate from Canada – how would Americans feel about having the Fleur de Lis plastered atop their stats page? It would be, after all, a huge deal to a certain percentage of North America.
To be honest, I go through the same sort of feeling during election time in the U.S., having to scroll past news of who said what about whom on my Facebook page – but at least I can scroll past it. At least the very site I belong to (Facebook) isn’t putting it there themselves. What’s more, I don’t pay to have a site on Facebook as I DO on WordPress.
Get rid of the rainbow, WordPress!
This rant is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/06/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2715/ Please join in and write whatever comes to mind!
Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions
lindaghill.com 
June 28, 2015 at 6:35 pm
I for one am bothered by it. There’s a double standard at play. While people celebrate gay pride- that is being gay…. you don’t see this happening with heterosexuals. If I were to go out and celebrate my heterosexuality I’d be called a whore, slut, and whatever degrading term there is for it. As a result I have taken what some consider a crude / rude position- “You’re gay, you’re open about it….. So what? All of society doesn’t need to know. And it doesn’t make you special.”
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June 28, 2015 at 2:31 am
I’m not entirely sure the rainbow on wordpress was about the US Supreme Court ruling. I think it may have been for the Gay Pride weekend events, which took place in multiple countries around the world. Granted not all countries, but quite a few…
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June 28, 2015 at 9:51 am
Even so, imagine with all the controversy over saying “Merry Christmas” if they’d displayed a nativity scene on our stats pages… As far as I can see it’s the same difference.
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June 27, 2015 at 7:33 pm
Sorry but I am one of those who love it. I know it should be apolitical etc, but it means the world to me. Here in Ireland we recently voted for same sex equality by referendum. My brother is gay and wrote two pieces on my blog which clearly demonstrate how deep this goes. I am still overjoyed remembering that wonderful day when the result was passed and my brother, my childhood companion knew this small catholic country with so many bad things in it’s past voted to fully accept him as an equal. The banner makes me believe anything is possible and that there is a lot of good in the world.
However I do totally understand your reserve on the foisting of it upon you. Each time I look at it it brings me joy, just as each time you look at it it annoys you.
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June 28, 2015 at 9:48 am
Good for you, Tric, and I say that most sincerely. I wouldn’t mind a bit if they had given me a choice in the matter. I do fear losing friends over it, in the sense that they won’t blog anymore… it’s a serious matter to some, in both directions.
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June 27, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Where is/was the support for the Confederate flag? Nowhere, not here, Google or anywhere else that I could find. Also, I do not agree with the SCOTUS decision to make it legal for gays to be married. I am not homophobic in any way, to each his own as long as you don’t try to force your beliefs on me. The same sentiment goes for that silly rainbow at the top of the page. I don’t agree with it but yet I am forced to either endure it or stay off of WordPress. I tell ya, I am sorely tempted to go completely self hosted and totally shut down my entire WordPress account.
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June 28, 2015 at 9:44 am
Well you’re already half way there – shame to shut down the WP account though for the sake of poor judgement of our hosts.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:17 pm
I simply want my blue banner back. I do not need to have any political, social or religious message forced upon me. My blog is about photography and I have no need for any sort of rainbow banner on my site. WordPress has handled this matter very poorly. They keep closing threads on the forum, saying it is not the place to discuss the topic; yet, they feel it’s alright to put the rainbow banner in front of everyone’s face and don’t give anyone the option to take it down. I had one of their “volunteers” berate me about how many times i posted about the topic, but never seemed to have thought about how wordpress just put up a contentious symbol on everyone’s blog without their consent. I have lost all respect for WordPress.
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June 27, 2015 at 5:01 pm
It’s awful that they won’t address the matter in the forums. Isn’t that where we’re supposed to go if we have a problem with the site? And so they’re saying “Yay, everyone in this country has the choice to marry, but no, the bloggers on WordPress have no choice but to have it shoved in their faces whether they like it or not.”
Indeed, they’re handling it poorly. Thanks for adding your comment to this thread.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:10 pm
I agree. I think the whole issue revolves around the percentage of the LGBT community that throw their sexuality in the public arena and demand recognition and gold stars for being so brave. The truth of the matter is that the majority of the population doesn’t give a rat’s ass what you do in the privacy of your own home. I think it is unfortunate that they feel a need to first be identified by their sexual preference, and secondly as a person. It’s a sad thing to live like that in my opinion. I applaud the decision to allow marriage to all people regardless of sexual orientation. I do not agree however that I am expected to and indeed obligated to show that support directly or indirectly. It should be my choice to do so.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:55 pm
I think it’s true that we don’t care about other people’s bedrooms as much up here as they do in the U.S. And yes, we should have the choice to support or not support it, just as homosexuals should have the choice to marry.
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June 27, 2015 at 3:57 pm
I agree Linda. Get rid of the damn thing and don’t put up another (not even for St Patrick’s day or any other thing that WP management feels we all give a damn about).
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June 27, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Right! Thanks for your support, John. 🙂
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June 27, 2015 at 5:48 pm
I don’t like Google doing the same thing but you made a good point when you said “I don’t pay for Google.”
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June 28, 2015 at 9:41 am
Exactly. And if I don’t want to look at it, I don’t have to.
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June 27, 2015 at 3:35 pm
[ Smiles ] If you are having a problem with that rainbow you can always join me over at Blogger.
I think that WordPress should have made the rainbow banner optional, since there are those who do not adhere to the LGBT beliefs and lifestyle.
Have you tried asking the Happy Engineers to remove it from your blog?
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June 27, 2015 at 4:50 pm
I’ve tried Blogger and been resoundingly ignored over there. But thanks for the invitation, Renard.
It should be optional – I’ve heard through the grapevine that they refuse to discuss it on the forums, so the decision to put the rainbow there must have come from higher up…?
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June 27, 2015 at 3:14 pm
I don’t pay attention to the pages outside the ones you get to from the old dashboard, anyway, but like you, I don’t like to be forced to celebrate anything, regardless of whether or not I’m happy about it. It’s the same with days like St. Patrick’s Day or Valentine’s day. There are people who are into that kind of thing, and that’s great, but I’m not. (St. Patrick’s Day is the one day I tell people I’m English. So was St. Patrick, by the way…)
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June 27, 2015 at 4:47 pm
True! I bet they wouldn’t stick “Merry Christmas” on our pages in fear of insulting those who don’t celebrate it. So why this?
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June 27, 2015 at 2:57 pm
I had no idea about this either. I know all the talk can get a bit too much after a while, but I try not to let things like that get to me. It is strange, though, that they would do this. Hmmm.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:45 pm
It is strange. As a host, I wouldn’t think they would force their views on those who support them.
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June 27, 2015 at 2:54 pm
I was kind of surprised to see it, myself. I feel supportive of the Supreme Court decision, but I appreciate that there are many who do not feel the same way. For them it might be kind of a slap on the face, or gasoline on the fire. And then there are those like you who are just not interested. Take it down, WP.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:44 pm
Thanks for your support, Glazed. 🙂
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June 27, 2015 at 2:19 pm
This is funny. When I saw the rainbow banner I thought WordPress had changed their page decoration. I did not even connect it with the Supreme Court ruling. I think it is a good thing. Equal rights and all that. I wish the US would hurry up and pass the ERA for women.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:43 pm
Women don’t have equal rights in the U.S.?
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June 27, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Yes women have equality in the U.S , have for quite some time now. 😉
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June 27, 2015 at 4:51 pm
I must have misunderstood Deborah’s meaning.
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June 27, 2015 at 5:12 pm
I didn’t understand it either…
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June 27, 2015 at 5:21 pm
Yes, there is an Equal Rights Amendment to ensure women’s rights and it was never totally ratified by all the states. It has been so long now that I forget some of its parts. I just read there is a new push to finally get it ratified. We will see.
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June 27, 2015 at 5:59 pm
I think the main concern about women in the U.S. is the disproportionate pay for equal work. I think women average $0.70 per every dollar men earn. I think there is also a lot of concern over the government saying what a woman can and can not do with her body for medical reasons.
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June 27, 2015 at 7:01 pm
Yes the equal pay is a big deal and the right to determine if women can chose abortion. I need to research the ERA again though to see exactly what it covers.
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June 27, 2015 at 9:54 pm
I hate to kind of butt in here but those stats on pay rates are just not accurate and they’ve been repeated ad nauseam unfortunately by politicians trying to manipulate women in order to get their votes. Those pay inequality stats have been completely disproven when things like degree majors, hours worked and whether or not a woman choose to take time off to care for their child are factored in. I’m not trying to start any argument here but I feel strongly that this narrative is damaging to women and should be corrected when it comes up. I wrote a post on this awhile back that explains more….https://freedomthroughempowerment.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/patricia-arquettes-acceptance-speech-made-me-want-to-hurl/
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June 28, 2015 at 9:40 am
It’s always been my belief, at least when it concerns my own country, that there are far more factors that go into deciding wages than sex. It’s easier to take a bunch of statistics as facts rather than look into the reasoning behind them.
Thanks for the link, Trish.
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June 28, 2015 at 9:36 am
Wow. And I thought I procrastinated. 😛
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June 27, 2015 at 1:47 pm
I agree, the forced rainbow banner is not a very civil move by WP and will inflame an already inflamed issue. Just a bit of feedback as an American, many of us are horrified not at the prospect of allowing gays to marry which I actually favor but the unconstitutional way it was forced on the states. It’s hard to explain to folks not familiar with our political system but one if the staples are the independence of the three political branches and their ability to check the power of each other, along with states rights which this latest decision by the Supreme Court did great damage to. Most of the states had already sanctioned gay marriage through the democratic process of allowing its citizens to vote on it which is the most peaceful and constitution abiding way to go about these things.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:42 pm
I can see why so many people are up in arms about the decision, whether they agree with the actual decision or not. Thanks for your explanation, Tricia. 🙂
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June 27, 2015 at 1:29 pm
I’ve seen the rainbow across people’s profile pics on FB, but I don’t know anything about WordPress. Linda, I agree our country was the first to open that door to same sex marriages. I still remember the day Elton John and David Furnish got married in Quebec. On a side note I nominated you for a quote challenge. Come and check it out here. 😊
https://jsackblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/quotes-from-the-heart
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June 27, 2015 at 4:40 pm
I remember that too! I was living on the Quebec side of the river at the time. 🙂 Thanks so much for the nomination – I’ll come and check it out. 😀
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June 27, 2015 at 6:00 pm
Oh that would’ve been fun to see all the excitement generated at that time. We’re you in Hull? I loved that side of the bridge such amazing food. You’re welcome thank you for participating, it’s fun and easy. 😊
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June 27, 2015 at 12:23 pm
On Facebook, you can “rainbow” your cover page photo. I agree, Linda, yay for gay marriage (now my brother and partner can be married)! But you are right, since WP is a world community, the rainbow on the main page bar can be gone now.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:28 pm
Yay for your brother! I’m so happy for them and for so many people this affects. 🙂 I fully support anyone who wishes to celebrate in public. But as for the rainbow on a page only I can see, I’d rather not, thanks.
Thank you for sharing your good news, Terri! 🙂
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June 27, 2015 at 12:18 pm
…And there’s no longer a “How can we help you?” popup where we can register a complaint. Coincidence? I think not.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:24 pm
That actually only shows up when there’s someone available to chat I believe – it’s like “call now, the phones aren’t busy.” I imagine the phones are very busy today. 😛
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June 27, 2015 at 12:05 pm
I am happy about the ruling, but I agree with you. Since WordPress is an international community, why should something that happened in the U.S. take over the WP site? It’s actually an embarrassment that this country finally did something that other countries have already done. Hopefully, it will be gone by tomorrow.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:09 pm
I can understand that it was a very hard decision for the U.S., considering much of the culture there. Weighing against the prospect of widespread revolt, whether justified or not, I’m sure is at least in part what held the government back for so long.
That being said, I hope so too. Thanks for your comment, Gloria. 🙂
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June 27, 2015 at 11:56 am
Sorry, but this means nothing to me.
Explain please.
(Not the gay marriage thing, the WordPress thing)
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June 27, 2015 at 11:58 am
Don’t you have a rainbow at the top of your stats page instead of just plain blue?
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June 27, 2015 at 11:59 am
Nope.
But then I only use the mobile app. I don’t have a computer.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:05 pm
Ah, maybe it doesn’t show up then. Yes, on the computer there’s a rainbow.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:18 pm
Well, Google do that stuff all the time, I can’t see it hurts for WordPress to do it for a special occasion
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June 27, 2015 at 12:22 pm
Again, I don’t pay to visit Google. Besides that, celebrating in a public place, like the front page of a website is quite different than celebrating it on a private one like my stats page that only I can see. Do you see what I mean? It’s like sitting alone in a room with someone who won’t shut up about something they’re interested in that I’m not. And I can’t walk away.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Fair point.
I’m increasingly pleased that I only use my phone for everything. People are always moaning about Facebook adverts and pop ups and I’m like, “What are you on about, I can’t see any of this stuff?”
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June 27, 2015 at 12:34 pm
Haha! Thumbs up for the app. If only my phone was as big as my laptop, I’d use it too. But then I’d need bigger pockets. Ah, 21st century problems… 😉
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June 27, 2015 at 12:50 pm
A tablet, that’s the answer. I love mine, best of both worlds; large Android touch screen tech, with none of the desktop nonsense.
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June 27, 2015 at 4:38 pm
I had a tablet – my 14 year old stole it from me. 😛
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June 27, 2015 at 12:48 pm
“…and I’m like…” You can tell I’m married to an American, they maybe “picking up English”, but I’m catching yank, hahaha
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June 27, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Hahaha! uh huh. 😉
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June 27, 2015 at 12:28 pm
I never knew what this was til someone explained as well because I’ve been using my cell phone app.
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June 27, 2015 at 12:31 pm
I don’t use the cell phone app because the screen is too small – I suppose there is at least one good thing about it then. 😛
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June 27, 2015 at 11:53 am
Personally I find it good for the people, who have lived with not being allowed to live, how they wished to. Where I come from, it has been allowed for many years. I think this is okay for me to celebrate for the people in United States, who will benefit from this new law.
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June 27, 2015 at 11:56 am
That’s wonderful, Irene. Go ahead and hang a flag from your house – change your gravatar to a rainbow themed one like so many people have done on Facebook. But on a page ONLY I CAN SEE, why should I be forced to look at it?
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June 27, 2015 at 12:03 pm
About that, I can only agree with you Linda, no one should be forced to look at it 😉
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June 27, 2015 at 12:05 pm
Thank you, Irene. 🙂
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