Pride Nails

     Happy Pride everyone!  I had been hoping to do a video tutorial on my pride nails this year.  Unfortunately, when I'm doing nail art that requires a fair amount of precision, I have a tendency to angle my hands upward, away from the camera.  This means that the footage I took wasn't stellar, and there are lots of points during the video where my hands are angled in such a way that you can't actually see what I'm doing.  So I decided not to do the video and instead just do a written tutorial.  Hopefully I can redo the video tutorial at some point in the future.

Thumbnail: 8 Color Philadelphia Pride Flag

This variation on the rainbow pride flag includes black and brown stripes to represent People of Color in the LGBTQIA+ community.  Although People of Color have been instrumental in the struggle for equality, their contributions are often overlooked (e.g., Marsha P. Johnson, who took part in Stonewall and co-founded with Sylvia Riviera the organization STAR, which provided assistance and housing to homeless trans and queer youth and sex workers [1]).  They are also more likely to face more discrimination and violence due to their multiple marginalized identities.  For example, black trans women are murdered at a rate more than seven times that of the general population [2].

Materials:

*Base coat
*Black acrylic paint or nail polish
*Brown acrylic paint or nail polish
*Red acrylic paint or nail polish
*Orange acrylic paint or nail polish
*Yellow acrylic paint or nail polish
*Green acrylic paint or nail polish
*Blue acrylic paint or nail polish
*Purple acrylic paint or nail polish
*Fine nail art brush
*Holographic nail polish top coat (optional) or glossy top coat

Directions:

*Apply nail polish base coat.  Let dry.

*Apply a thin horizontal stripe of black paint at the top of your thumbnail.  The width of the stripe depends on the length of your nails.  To get a sense of how wide each stripe should be, measure the length of your nail and divide that number by 8.  The resulting number will give you an approximate width.  (Honestly I just eyeballed it, but if you're worried about spacing, math can help.)

*Apply a thin stripe of brown paint in the same fashion.

*Continue applying the remaining colors in thin layers, starting with red and progressing to purple in rainbow order.

*Seal with a top coat, either a clear top coat or a holographic top coat for some rainbowy sparkles.

Index Finger: Trans Flag

Someone who is transgender has a gender identity than doesn't match the sex they were assigned at birth.  (The term for people whose gender identities match the sex they were assigned at birth is cisgender.)  While we hear about women who were assigned male at birth and men who were assigned female at birth, someone does not have to be a woman or a man to be trans.  Many people who are nonbinary, gender fluid, or agender, for example, may also consider themselves trans.  However, not everyone who is nonbinary, for example, will consider themselves trans.  This is partly why many of these communities have their own flags.

Materials:

*Nail polish base coat
*Light blue acrylic paint or nail polish
*Light pink acrylic paint or nail polish
*White acrylic paint or nail polish
*Fine nail art brush
*Holographic or clear nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Apply a clear base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint light blue horizontal stripes at the top and bottom of each nail.  If you're not sure how wide to make each stripe, take the length of your nail and divide it by five.  The resulting number will give you the approximate width each stripe should be.

*Paint pink stripes below the top blue stripe and above the bottom blue stripe.

*Fill in the middle of the nail with white paint or polish.

*Apply a clear top coat, or a holographic top coat for some extra shine.

Middle Finger: Bi Pride Flag

While some people have come to associate bisexuality with being attracted to both women and men, many bisexual people find themselves attracted to people of genders outside of the binary, for example, people who are nonbinary or agender.

Materials:

*Nail polish base coat
*Magenta acrylic paint or nail polish
*Purple acrylic paint or nail polish
*Blue acrylic paint or nail polish
*Fine nail art brush
*Holographic or clear nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Apply a clear base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint the top part of your nail magenta.  The purple stripe on the bi flag is often thinner than the pink and blue stripes, but I've seen a lot of people use equal widths too.

*Paint the middle of your nail purple.

*Paint the bottom of your nail blue.

*Apply a clear or holographic top coat.

Ring Finger: Asexual Pride Flag

One thing to know about asexuality is that it is a spectrum.  While some people who are asexual have zero sexual attraction, others (sometimes called gray asexuals or gray aces) do experience some sexual attraction.  The attraction could be infrequent or limited to a small number of individuals.  Demisexuality is often considered as a subset of asexuality.  Demisexual individuals have to form a connection with someone first before they can become sexually attracted to this person.

Another important thing to note about asexuality is that sex and romance are not the same.  People who don't experience romantic attractions are called aromantic.  While some asexual people are also aromantic, many are not.  Much like some people can have sex without developing romantic feelings, other people can have romantic feelings without a desire for sex.

Materials:

*Nail polish base coat
*Black acrylic paint or nail polish
*Gray acrylic paint or nail polish
*White acrylic paint or nail polish
*Purple acrylic paint or nail polish
*Fine nail art brush
*Holographic or clear nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Apply a clear base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint the top of your nail black.  To figure out how wide to make your stripe, take the length of your nail and divide it by four.  The resulting number will give you the width of each stripe.

*Paint a gray stripe below the black one.

*Paint a white stripe below the gray one.

*Paint the bottom stripe purple.

*Seal with a clear or holographic top coat.

Pinkie Finger: Pan Pride Flag

For people who are pansexual, gender is generally not a factor in their attractions.  While some people who are bisexual may experience the same thing, and some use the terms interchangeably, pansexuality makes it explicit that people who use this term are attracted to a multitude of genders, not just two.

Materials:

*Nail polish base coat
*Magenta acrylic paint or nail polish
*Yellow acrylic paint or nail polish
*Blue acrylic paint or nail polish
*Fine nail art brush
*Holographic or clear nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Apply a clear base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint the top part of your nail magenta.  To figure out how wide to make your stripe, take the length of your nail and divide it by three.  The resulting number will give you an approximation of how wide each stripe should be.

*Paint the middle of your nail yellow.

*Paint the bottom of your nail blue.

*Apply a clear or holographic top coat.

[1]https://www.workers.org/2006/us/lavender-red-73/
[2]https://unerased.mic.com/