Hikes told NBC that most of the pushback her office has received in response to the new flag has come from white gay men. “And really to believe them and to step up and say, ‘What can I do to help eradicate these issues in our community?’” The backlash to the Philadelphia pride flag is indicative of a bigger problem within the LGBTQ community “It’s a push for people to start listening to people of color in our community, start hearing what they’re saying,” Amber Hikes, the new executive director of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs, told NBC. The flag seems to be a response to this problem. And according to a 2017 report from the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which investigated and studied these complaints, it found that “transwomen of color are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, harassment, and physical violence.”
Other complaints involved bars and clubs denying entry to nonwhite people based on vague dress codes, and white male patrons getting preferential treatment. One of the complaints involved iCandy Philadelphia owner Darryl DePiano, who was caught using the n-word on tape: As Eater reported in February, 11 gay bars and nightlife venues were recently required to take anti-racism training after complaints were made that the bars and clubs were discriminating against nonwhite patrons. Philadelphia and its Pride campaign’s addition of two stripes to the rainbow flag comes amidst the city’s underlying problem with racial discrimination in its gay bars. Philadelphia had a specific reason for adding black and brown stripes to the flag But on another, it represents a deeper divide and frustration that exists within the LGBTQ community, and the realization that, in spite of the LGBTQ’s community’s ongoing fight for equality, civil rights, and progress, there’s still divisiveness and discrimination within the community itself. On one level, the conflict feels like a simple byproduct of disconnect between the message of the flag and the people criticizing it, rather than anything malicious. ✊ ✊ ✊ ✊ /xRTIWvZSOY- Chief June 15, 2017Īt a glance, fighting over the rainbow flag might seem unnecessary. White gays dont like us including PoC in the Pride Flag? How about fuck off. That’s a lot more elegant than some of the conversation surrounding the new flag, like people asking for a white stripe, or people claiming that adding to the two colors to the flag is disrespectful or that it’s racist for not explicitly including white people.Īnd those sentiments have been met with a vocal, spirited response: Though Beal believes that Philly’s adaptation of the rainbow flag should be viewed as an independent symbol from the one Baker created, he acknowledged that he supports the intentions behind it. “The only thing we would ask is that other people would not take it and put Gilbert’s name on it, because they didn’t do it in consultation with him, and he didn’t do it.” (Baker died earlier this year, on March 31.)
“The stripes were not chosen for skin color - they were chosen to reflect the spectrum of color in nature,” a longtime friend of Baker’s, Charley Beal told NBC. The flag has historically represented LGBTQ people as a whole, and critics of Philly’s changes to it believe those changes are unnecessary, since the flag is already a symbol of unity. Philadelphia’s initiative to be more inclusionary toward nonwhite LGBTQ people comes from a good place, but its reception has been marked by controversy. To fuel this important conversation, we’ve expanded the colors of the flag to include black and brown.” Especially when it comes to recognizing people of color in the LGBTQ+ community.
A lot of good, but there’s more we can do. “In 1978, artist Gilbert Baker designed the original rainbow flag,” the campaign states. The colors, according to the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs’ More Color More Pride campaign, represent inclusion of people of color in the LGBTQ community. The city of Philadelphia recently learned that the rainbow flag, a symbol of LGBTQ pride, isn’t quite as unifying as it may seem.įor Pride Month, Philly added two colors - black and brown - to the existing pride flag, and hoisted it outside City Hall.