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Show Your Colors: LGBTQ+ Pride Flag Exhibit

Join us for a First Friday exhibit reception on June 3rd from 6:00-8:00pm.

During the month of June, in honor of Pride Month and the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, the City of Phoenix LGBTQ Employee Alliance has partnered with Burton Barr Central Library to showcase a LGBTQ+ Pride Flag exhibit featuring 22 pride flags that embody just some of the many aspects of the LGBTQ+ community. The Rainbow Pride Flag, some might say, is the most iconic symbol of Pride, but more than 20 LGBTQ+ flags represent different sexualities and gender identities within the broader queer community and their allies.

So, why are there so many flags? Monica Helms, the creator of the Transgender Pride Flag and Navy veteran, says the following:
“I say the rainbow flag is like the American flag: everybody’s underneath that. But each group, like each state, has their own individual flag.” — Monica Helms

This exhibition features twenty 3’x5’ flags and two 5’x8’ flags. Each flag has its own story of who it represents and the significance of each color or symbol. These flags also give visibility to groups within the LGBTQ+ community that historically have not been represented in the mainstream gay rights movement.

The LGBTQ+ Pride Flag Exhibit is an opportunity for individuals to understand the differences among the diverse members of the LGBTQ+ community, and to provide an opportunity to challenge assumptions, prejudices, and stereotypes relating to the LGBTQ+ community.

The Show Your Colors: An LGBTQ+ Pride Flag Exhibit will be on display in the @Central Gallery, Burton Barr Central Library from May 23 to July 1, 2022.