Rabies Pride

Overview

To reclaim the experience of being treated as animalized, contagious, diseased, dangerous, loud, hyper, or 'too much' for being autistic and openly trans. ^[1][2]

Rabies Pride emerged in 2017 within Tumblr-era Queer and neurodivergent communities, created by Tumblr user dirk-has-rabies and initially used by roughly 30 people. ^[3][1] A 2021 University of Washington paper by Torin Burns examines it as a case study in how Queer micro-communities are co-opted by internet humor. ^[3]

In July 2018, Tumblr user randomaesflags created a joke rabies pride flag ('for when you're LGBT and have rabies') that gained 12,000+ notes. ^[4] A satire account, rabidloving/rabidrick, then amplified the meme by posting seemingly serious content about wanting rabies.

On August 13, 2018, YouTuber Strange Aeons (Teya Nicolaou) published a 'Tumblr Deep Dive' video on rabies pride that reached 2M+ views, the single biggest vector for the meme's spread, without ever mentioning the original sincere reclaiming meaning. ^[5][6]

On August 18, 2018, the rabidloving creator confirmed everything was satire. ^[4] Strange Aeons returned with a follow-up video in July 2019, demonstrating the meme's sustained viral reach. ^[7] In April 2021, Tumblr user neopronouns coined 'rabiespunk' and created a new multicolor flag with explicit symbolism, attempting to reclaim the movement from the meme. ^[2]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

autistic trans / neurodivergent trans

Subcommunity

neuroqueer, trans-neurodivergent

Movement

Rabies Pride (reclaiming movement)

Rabies Pride refers to reclaiming dehumanization and stigma experienced by autistic trans people, not to the disease itself. ^{[3] [1]} Some later community usage extends the term to neurodivergent trans people more broadly. ^[6]

Creators

The Creator

Attribution notes

Rabies Pride was created by Tumblr user dirk-has-rabies in 2017, as a movement for neurodivergent (mostly autistic) transgender individuals who are treated as if they are animals or contagious. The first pride flag was created by Tumblr user randomaesflags on or before July 20, 2018. A second flag by the satire blog rabidloving (July 27, 2018) was later reclaimed. The neopronouns Tumblr user created a supported alternative on April 27, 2021.

Origin

Digital Origin

Tumblr

Digital origin; no verified physical location.

Created in Tumblr-era Queer and neurodivergent internet culture. ^[3] The movement is internet-native with no known geographic point of origin.

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2017

Period in Use

2017–present

The movement originally circulated within a small Tumblr community of roughly 30 people. ^[3] The July 2018 meme explosion vastly expanded awareness but almost entirely overwrote the sincere meaning with parody. ^[4][5] The movement was later rediscovered on TikTok, where the #rabiesprideflag hashtag has active user-generated content. ^[3] Redbubble features rabies pride merchandise from multiple independent artists, including official rabiespunk designs by the neopronouns account. ^[2] A separate multicolor 'rabiespunk' flag was proposed in 2021. ^[2]

Major revisions

1. c. 2021

   A later multicolor rabiespunk flag proposal appeared with an explicit symbolic key. This is a separate design, not a revision of the commonly circulated gray-red version.

Multiple visual versions appear to exist. The gray-red six-stripe version is the most commonly circulated, but the movement creator linked to a newer design in later statements. ^{[1] [2]} Community discussion consistently distinguishes Rabies Pride from any literal disease-identity reading. ^[6]

Lineage

Indirect influences

Rainbow Pride Flag

Direct children

Rabiespunk Pride Flag

Related flags

"Fuck Around and Find Out" Trans Pride Flag

Belongs to the broader post-rainbow striped pride-flag tradition. While not a direct descendant of the Gilbert Baker rainbow flag, the six-stripe horizontal layout places it within the pride flag design tradition that the rainbow flag established. ^[3] The Voidpunk movement is an ideological comparison only, not a visual or genealogical ancestor.

Lineage tree

Every record reachable from this one through documented parent and child relationships: 2 records across 2 generations.

This record

Rabies Pride

Children

Rabiespunk Pride Flag

Colors & Symbolism

The flag is associated with reclaiming the stigma of being treated as animalized, contagious, or dangerous. ^{[1] [6]} No securely verified creator-issued meaning set has been identified for the commonly circulated gray-red version. ^[1]

This flag has no official digital palette. Color values shown are approximate.

The stripe meanings listed are from the rabidloving blog version (July 2018), which was originally satire but was reclaimed by the Rabies Pride movement. A separate flag by neopronouns (April 2021) has its own layered color meanings involving trans identity (blue/pink/yellow), nature (blue/green/brown), and neurodivergence (green/red/yellow).

No official creator-published color specification exists for the commonly circulated gray-red version. ^[1] All hex values are provisional reconstructions and may vary across reproductions.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · standard

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

6

Layout

horizontal_stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

Red, Pale Pink, White, Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray

Six equal horizontal stripes, top to bottom: red, pale pink, white, light gray, medium gray, and dark gray. This is the most commonly circulated version; other visual variants exist. Reconstructed from commonly circulated images. No official construction sheet or exact specifications have been retrieved.

Usage & Adoption

Geographic Usage

Internet circulation

Online Usage

Tumblr, Twitter / X, Discord, TikTok (#rabiesprideflag), Know Your Meme (documented as 'Rabiosexual') ^[4], Redbubble (merchandise from multiple independent artists, including official rabiespunk designs by neopronouns) ^[2], YouTube (Strange Aeons deep dive, 2M+ views, plus 2019 follow-up) ^[5][7], Urban Dictionary (community-submitted 'rabiosexual' definitions) ^[8]

Current Status

active

Niche and internet-native. Usage is concentrated in online neurodivergent and trans communities. ^[6] The term 'Rabies Pride' is sometimes misread as satire or literal disease identification, but community usage consistently treats it as a reclaiming movement. ^[6]

Discourse & Debates

• Community discussion consistently distinguishes Rabies Pride from identifying with or glorifying the disease. The term reclaims the experience of being treated as animalized or contagious, particularly as an autistic trans person. ^[6][2]
• Some community explanations broaden the scope from the creator's original framing (autistic trans people specifically) to neurodivergent trans people more generally. ^[2]
• The 2021 coinage of 'rabiespunk' by Tumblr user neopronouns was an attempt to distinguish the sincere movement from the meme, giving it a new name and a new flag with explicit symbolism. ^[2]
• Whether satirical or meme-origin pride flags belong in a serious flag archive, given that meme use has in this case almost entirely overwritten the sincere reclaiming context.

Common misidentifications

• Frequently mistaken for satire, trolling, or literal disease identification by viewers unfamiliar with the movement's reclaiming context. ^[4][5]

Common confusions

• The later multicolor rabiespunk flag proposal is sometimes conflated with the earlier commonly circulated gray-red version. These appear to be separate designs.

Criticisms

• The name is frequently misunderstood outside its originating communities. The disease reference can appear alarming or satirical without context.
• Strange Aeons' 2018 YouTube video (2M+ views) presented the movement entirely as internet absurdity without mentioning its sincere reclaiming origins, which the LGBTQIA+ Wiki describes as having 'hugely contributed to the spread of the meme and disinformation on Rabies Pride.' The movement creator was reportedly not contacted for the video. ^[6][5]
• The meme explosion of July–August 2018 effectively drowned the original movement. The joke flag by randomaesflags (12,000+ notes) and the rabidloving satire account became far more visible than the sincere community of roughly 30 people. ^[4][3]

Rabies Pride refers to a reclaiming movement, not to the disease itself. ^{[3] [1]} The term reclaims the experience of being treated as animalized, contagious, diseased, dangerous, or 'too much.' ^[1]

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

commonly circulated gray-red version

• The most commonly circulated version of the rabies pride flag, showing six horizontal stripes in red, pale pink, white, and grays. The authorship of this specific image is not fully settled; the movement creator later noted there was not originally a flag associated with the movement. · Commonly circulated version