As you may or may not know, our beloved 1D boys are currently finishing their world tour called “On The Road Again” and what’s a better way of finishing it off than bringing the shows back home? The boys couldn’t possibly leave out the city where they got to play their first gig after leaving X Factor – Glasgow! Back then it might only have been a few songs on a tiny stage in The Garage, whereas this October they got to play in Glasgow’s newest arena, the modern SSE Hydro.
Now, you may be wondering about the “rainbow“ part. What do rainbows have to do with One Direction? Let me explain.
It probably started when the media started shunning shippers in the One Direction fandom. Fans turned against each other, and what should have been a safe and enjoyable space for everyone was suddenly filled with homophobia and ignorance. Thus the Take Me Home From Narnia project was started and Rainbow Direction was born. The LGBTQ+ community in the fandom has built its home out of actions such as standing up to homophobia on social media, holding drives for LGBTQ+ oriented charities and most importantly, bringing our rainbows to the concerts to show that we’re here and we’re still standing. We hope that some others who might not be able to bring their own rainbows for different reasons see ours and feel safe and included.
The TMHFN website (http://takemehomefromnarnia.tumblr.com/) is truly amazing as it keeps fans informed and educated, and encourages people to be their fabulous selves. It also helps people like me organise Rainbow Direction meetups before concerts. People who plan on bringing rainbows sign up via the website and can then contact the others who have signed up for their show, which is how we’ve organised our little meet up!
Our group may have been small, but meeting these wonderful girls made the whole concert experience so much better. As we’re not really familiar with the streets of Glasgow, our new friends showed us the way and one of them let us stay with her while waiting for the night bus home.
I can confidently say, that Rainbow Direction and its wonderful members have made me feel safe in more than one way, and that’s what it’s all about. As Harry said “Here at One Direction we like to celebrate love in all forms. Love is love. “
Even the stage lights up in rainbow colours during Girl Almighty (which is a great jam and everyone should give it a listen)!
You can truly say, that LGBTQ+ fans of One Direction are Fireproof!
Concert video by me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RMOAUp7Uj8