June is known widely as Pride Month. Across the nation, there have been thousands of pride parades or other functions to show support for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, etc) community. In a time where there is a strong opposition in regards of equality regardless of sexual orientation, the community has only grown stronger. This month also marks a full year since the Pulse Nightclub shooting massacre in Orlando, Florida, which targeted partygoers who identified as gay/queer. This month is meant to be a time of acceptance and understanding as we rally together to celebrate love and acceptance as we move further through life to fight for equal rights for all.

However, last week, there has been an issue sparked within the community. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the director of LGBT+ affairs, debuted a new LGBTQ+ flag at city hall. The updated rainbow flag now consists of two black and brown stripes above the original colors. In theory, it is meant to represent minorities in the community who may feel invisible or disregarded by the rest of the community.

In result, people are split whether between this flag was needed to fully be inclusive for all or if this is only a mere division in the community.

In my opinion, I do feel like it is a bit unnecessary to have added additional stripes. The original flag was created in the late 1970s by Gilbert Barker where each stripe represented a meaning for love and equality for all those who identify as homosexual. Red stands for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for art, and violet for human spirit. There was also pink which represented sex and indigo for harmony but these stripes were eventually dropped. By adding black or brown to the flag, we are adding race to something race was not even involved in. The rainbow flag is supposed to be a visual representation for anyone in the community regardless of race or any other biases.

There are also numerous other pride flags aside for from the original flag. A flag with pink, purple, and blue represents bisexuality; pink, yellow, and blue stripes represents pansexuality; as well as blue, white, and pink represent a person who is transgender or transsexual depending on the number of stripes. The way the LGBT+ affairs director and stay presented the flag was as if we need one of unison when the original rainbow flag serves that purpose.

On the other hand, there may be some issues within the community that I may not be aware of as I am not a person of color. It is evident that racial tensions are rising across the nation especially with cases similar to Philando Castile happening almost every day now. There is no doubt there might be struggles for a person of color who is gay but activists should be doing their part to advocate for their representation. When someone thinks of someone who is gay, they often picture somebody who is Caucasian. There is still work that needs to be done for people of color who are gay but trying to revolutionize a flag that is meant for everyone regardless of color does not help the cause.