I think the common belief is that because a white person is gay they couldn’t possibly be racist, but the truth is that the LGBT community is notoriously racist. “Gayness doesn’t absolve people from anti-blackness or racism. “I experience racism in this community daily,” Mooney says. The fight has highlighted an ugly and frequently ignored truth about the queer community, says Madison Mooney, a queer black activist in Seattle who began organizing a meet-up for women of color after the police shooting of Charleena Lyles.
If we're going to add skin colours, then while we're at it, I don't see my skin colour represented there at all.” “It was about sexuality, love, peace and acceptance. “Thanks to this, a division has already begun and an argument created over something that had nothing to do with skin colour,” wrote another. “I don't think there are any purple, green, or blue people feeling more represented. “This is a rainbow, for god’s sakes, which transcends race segregation,” wrote another. “What the f- is the point of having a flag dedicated to being proud of your sexuality if it's also about being proud to be black?” wrote one Facebook commenter. The response among many in the white LGBT community has been outrage, and the battle is playing out online. The flag did take the nation by storm, but not how Hikes likely imagined it. To me, this is a chance to stop saying ‘We’re inclusive’ and to actually begin showing it.”
This is an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate not just Pride but also the community members whose voices and experiences that so often get overlooked. “This is going to take the nation by storm,” Amber Hikes, Philadelphia’s director of LGBT Affairs, told the Philadelphia Gay News. But together we can make big strides toward a truly inclusive community."
To fuel this important conversation, we've expanded the colors of the flag to include black and brown. A lot of good, but there's more we can do. "In 1978, artist Gilbert Baker designed the original rainbow flag…” the organizers wrote. They called the project More Color, More Pride. The flag, the city hoped, would help make people of color feel more welcome in a community that historically hasn’t represented them. Last year, a video was posted online showing the owner of a bar in Philly’s Gayborhood using racist slurs, and there have been so many complaints of discrimination that the city recently ordered the owners and staff of over a dozen gay bars and nonprofits to undergo anti-racism training. The gesture was meant to acknowledge people of color in the LGBT community in Philly after several racist incidents in the city’s gay district. In addition to the usual six colors, this one had two new stripes across the top: one black, one brown. That change created the six-stripe version of the flag that we all know today.īut, it's not the only flag that represents LGBTQ+ folks.Earlier this month, the city of Philadelphia unveiled an updated Pride flag for this year’s celebration. Baker's way to fix the problem was to create an even-numbered flag - dropping another color, turquoise. To keep up, the Paramount Flag Company, where Baker worked, dropped the hot pink stripe.Īccording to the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives, the flag was modified again in 1979 because the middle stripe was obscured when the flag hung on lamp posts.
Each color represented something significant: sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic, serenity and spirit.Īfter the assassination of gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk in November 1978, demand for the flag increased. The original rainbow flag had 8 colors: pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue and violet. Baker was a vexillograpaher, or flag maker, for more than 40 years before passing away in 2017. Patrick's Day parade, Monday, Main New York.Īccording to the Gilbert Baker Foundation, Baker designed and created the first rainbow flag in 1978. Artist Gilbert Baker, designer of the Rainbow Flag, is draped with the flag while holding a banner that reads "Boycott Homophobia" before the start of the St.