Pride Month is coming to a close, and it has been an eventful few weeks. There have been parades and rallies, along with a lot of important discussions happening involving the LGBTQ+ community and the struggles that we face. One of the highlights that has come out of Pride Month 2017 is the Philadelphia pride flag. We’ve all come to know and love the original rainbow pride flag that was created by Gilbert Baker back in the 1970’s. However, as time goes on and communities evolve, it’s important that the way we represent ourselves evolves with us.

This evolution is exactly what the new flag designed by Philly’s Office of LGBT Affairs represents. The flag looks just like the flag originally designed by Baker, but now also features two additional stripes-- a black stripe and a brown one:

The addition of the two new stripes is to highlight multiple issues within the LGBTQ+ community. The struggles that people within in the community face are intersectional, just like any social justice issue. The team in Philadelphia are starting a whole campaign to accompany their new flag called More Color More Pride that revolves around not just their flag, but inclusion and intersectionality in our community. The addition of the stripes is to make notice of the additional struggles that queer people of color face. People in the LGBTQ+ community have enough struggles to face by having to battle homophobia and we bond through what we have to go through because of that, and yet there are whole sectors of the community that ignore the additional struggles faced by those who have to deal with racism as well. It’s a complex issue that we need to start taking notice of.

Amber Hikes, the Director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, agrees that this is a definite step in the right direction. She stated that it will help, “reinforce our strides combatting discrimination within the community.” The first step is one of the most important, and by taking public action and making such a statement, this endeavor is a great step toward reconciling members within the community. A huge part of progression is not only working on problems outside the community, but within it as well. There is always room for progress and further inclusion. There have been a lot of conflicting feelings about the addition of the stripes and the reasoning behind them, but it could easily be said that the amount of backlash and denial of problems within our community only highlight the need for actions like this to start discussing discrimination within our own ranks.

Personally, I like the Philly pride flag. I think it’s an important step in bringing a lot of issues that the LGBTQ+ community has been trying to sweep under the rug, to the forefront. Our queer brothers and sisters of color deserve to be able to share their struggles, even when their problems exist within our own community, and the rest of us should be open not only to listening, but admitting when we’ve been wrong and work on making things right. While giving another symbol is just a first step, we all have to start somewhere. I think that the Philadelphia team launched the start of an important movement within the queer community itself and I’m hopeful for the progress that is going to ensue because of it. I hope we never stop making moves to be a more inclusive community, and a more inclusive world outside of that.