Last year, an estimated 400,000 attended. Seattle Pride was small in its early years, but today, it is one of the largest Pride celebrations in the country. It included a memorial service commemorating the victims of an arson attack on a New Orleans gay bar the year before that had killed 32 people. The first Seattle Pride took place over one week in June 1974. “What’s wrong with one that reflects unity?” “There is a Bisexual Pride flag and a Trans Pride flag and one for furries and bears,” she says. Harrell is a fan of the Philadelphia Pride flag, which, she points out, is just one among many Pride flags. Today, however, that history is often erased, and many Pride organizations - and gay rights groups in general - are run exclusively by white people.Īnd that’s a problem, because “when leadership is homogenous, you start talking to an echo chamber and you end up making decisions that aren’t inclusive of the whole community,” says Monisha Harrell, Chair of Equal Rights Washington. The first Pride in 1970 marked the one-year anniversary of The Stonewall riots, which were instigated by queer people of color. In addition to racism within the queer populace, Pride events around the country are frequently criticized for whitewashing. “You’ll hear people say things all the time like, ‘Oh, you’re cute for being black or being brown.’” “There’s a passive aggressiveness to the racism here,” he says.
Corona says queer people of color frequently encounter racism, and this is especially apparent on dating apps, where you often see racial preferences listed up front, like “no Asians” or “no blacks.” ( The Guardian reported last year that “an astonishing 80% of black men, 79% of Asian men and 75% of South Asian men have experienced racism on the gay scene.”)Ĭorona says that face-to-face racism in Seattle is subtle but pervasive. This is echoed by Ray Corona, a queer immigrant who has served on the City of Seattle’s LGBT Commission. 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.
ANTI GAY PRIDE FLAG SKIN
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. Earlier this month, the city of Philadelphia unveiled an updated Pride flag for this year’s celebration.