Today local leaders held a ceremony at Colorado Springs City Hall to raise a 25-foot historic Pride flag following the mass shooting at the local LGBTQ venue Club Q on Saturday evening, which killed five people and injured nearly 20 others.
The flag, known as Section 93 of the Sea to Sea Flag, is on loan to Colorado Springs from the Sacred Cloth Project as a gesture of love, solidarity and healing in the wake of the Club Q shootings in which five people were killed and 18 were injured. It was previously on public view after the shooting at Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQ venue in Orlando; at the Supreme Court for the 2015 victory for marriage equality; and during significant occasions in support of the LGBTQ community in other parts of the world.
At today’s ceremony Nancy Henjum (she/her), City Council Representative for District 5 where the attack took place, said:
“What does the future look like for Colorado Springs and especially for the LGBTQ+ community? There is so much love and support for you here today. We MUST continue that for the days, weeks, years, and lifetimes to come – especially for queer people of color and for transgender people. We heard from many of you yesterday in this very building that you don’t feel safe, you don’t feel respected – that we must do better. Yes – we MUST do better. We WILL do better. And we will start with our display of support by unfurling this flag on our historic 1904 building.”
Other local leaders in attendance included Mayor John Suthers, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez, Fire Chief Randy Royal, District Attorney Michael Allen, and Jessie Pocock, the Executive Director of Inside Out, among others.
“We are honored to share this symbol of hope, love and unity with the people of Colorado Springs in their time of sorrow,” said Mark Ebenhoch (he/him), Sacred Cloth Project director.
“As Colorado Springs mourns, we are heartened that this historic flag has been offered for display,” said Jessie Pocock (she/her), Inside Out Youth Services executive director and CEO. “We are grateful for this incredible demonstration of compassion.”
The flag, measuring 14 by 25 feet, is one section of the historic Rainbow25 flag sewn together by Gilbert Baker in Key West, Fla., in 2003 to create a 1.25 mile long flag in the original eight colors (versus the six colors that became more common). That flag marked the 25th anniversary of the 1978 flag originally created by Baker. The Sea to Sea Flag was later cut into sections, and Section 93 is preserved as the Sacred Cloth. It has traveled the globe to be displayed at celebrations, occasions of mourning, and historic moments. Section 93 was displayed in downtown Orlando in June 2016 following the deadly Pulse nightclub shootings and has returned to Orlando each year on the anniversary of the tragedy.
For more information, visit Facebook.com/TheSacredClothProject.
