I鈥檓 a flag guy. Old Glory flaps outside my house most days, to honor America, and to reclaim that particular symbol from guys who roar around town in pickups, burning coal and raising hell. But hey, I can wave a flag, too, which made me a little jealous of a neighbor of mine, who has been flying a Pride flag for years.
Rainbows are rare and beautiful in nature, but on Olive Street in Fort Collins, there鈥檚 always one brightening the neighborhood as well. So, when Pride Month hit this year, I wanted a rainbow flag! The flag鈥檚 designer, , was a gay man and a drag queen. He designed it in 1978, at the suggestion of鈥攐ne of the first openly gay people elected in the United States, on the San Francisco board of supervisors.
This is how Baker described his flag: hot pink for sex鈥揻irst things first, right?--red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. I wanted all of those at my house!
So I shopped for a Pride flag to call my own. It didn鈥檛 go so well. Michael鈥檚 craft store was talking a big game online, but the Pride merch was in the bargain bin by the time I got there. Starbucks鈥� measly offering of two designer hot cups shouted 鈥渉ope nobody notices!鈥�, not pride. Party City was selling a rainbow-balloon arch for sixty dollars. But that鈥檚 not an option for year-round display. I鈥檇 also heard rumors of a rainbow-layer , but its bakery was fresh out.
Actually, Costco鈥檚 not a bad place to go if Pride is on your shopping list. The Human Rights Campaign, a diligent monitor of gay rights, gives the retailer high marks for its workforce protections and inclusive benefits. And I couldn鈥檛 help but note a trans person unremarkably working a long checkout line there. Nothing to see here, people. Just heave those impractically large items onto the conveyor and move along. Plus, Costco is selling Bud Light for just $22.99 a thirty-pack, whatever the Dylan-Mulvaney haters have to say about it.
That Bud Light thing is just a distraction, of course. Who cares? But here鈥檚 something worth noting: According to the, a record 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have advanced in state legislatures this year.
Will my little flag flap any of that away?
It鈥檚 important to remember that, during the Stonewall Uprising, the streets were anointed with gay protesters鈥�--and cops鈥�--blood. Pride month was born in . And now, all these years later, the battle continues鈥攊n state legislatures, in schools, around dinner tables, and weirdly, in big-box stores.
My friend Moe read about how Target had withdrawn some , because of confrontations between customers and staff. So Moe sent a nice note to our local store manager, and learned that only one controversial brand鈥揂bprallen鈥揾ad been 86ed. She bought a Pride poster there with no problem. It says: Ask me about my pronouns.
While she was telling me this story, she was sitting with her back to a window that looked east from Old Town Fort Collins. Rain was coming down in buckets. As we talked, the sun burst through the clouds and a brilliant rainbow appeared against the dark clouds. Sex, life, light, nature, art, harmony, and spirit were all there鈥攁nd so much more.
The Pride flag I eventually bought鈥揻rom the online store at the Human Rights Campaign鈥揹idn鈥檛 hold a candle to that real rainbow. But someday, a worried queer kid might walk by my house and think, 鈥淢aybe I鈥檓 not alone in this world?鈥� I sure hope so.
In any case, it will take more than drinking low-cal beer, or flying the right flag, to make the world safe for people who want to love who they love. Especially now, love needs all the support it can get.
