Russians and Americans swap Facebook's rainbow filter for national flags

Homophobic Americans and Russians have reacted to Facebook's pro-gay rainbow flag filter by applying national flags to their own profile pictures.

Following the US supreme ruling on equal marriage last Friday, which made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, Facebook introduced a special filter called the 'Celebrate Pride' tool which allowed users to overlay their profile pictures with a rainbow flag.

Over a million users have since used the tool but it would seem that not everyone is a fan. Russian graphic designer Oleg Chulakov has created his own application which allows users to apply their national flag to their Facebook profile picture instead.

Chulakov has claimed he did not create the app with homophobic intentions in mind, writing on his Facebook page: "We are not against anyone", and at the bottom of his app's page is message reading: "We are proud of our country, whose citizens respect the choices of others, regardless of their nationality, sex, age, religion and sexual orientation."

However, many Facebook users from across Russia and in other regions of the world have been writing homophobic comments alongside photos using the filter and using the hashtags #pridetobestraight and #pridetoberussian.

"Give children the rainbow back!" wrote one Facebook user Valya Ivanova:

Even a user purporting to represent the Russian Bear shared its preference:

However, it's not just the Russians who have followed this trend. American Facebook users who oppose the supreme court's decision have also begun to change their profile filters to incorporate the Star-Spangled Banner. The service is being offered by the website Right Wing News, as well as by Chulakov's app.

The prevalence of the rainbow filter caused Russian lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, infamous for his homophobic views, to call for the ban of Facebook across Russia. Speaking to a Russian radio station, Milonov claimed that: "It is a crude violation of Russian legislation. Facebook has no age limits, it is impossible to control how many minors are there. That is why it would be completely normal to pull the plug on Facebook in Russia."

Milonov was the main sponsor of Russia's 2013 federal law, which made the exposure of minors to the "propaganda" of same-sex relationships illegal.

Despite last week's ruling, Mississippi, Louisiana, Utah, Tennessee and Alabama are reportedly delaying the process of releasing marriage licenses to same-sex couples