Local leaders and community members gathered today for a ceremony at Colorado Springs City Hall to raise a 25-foot historic Pride flag. This was done in honor and remembrance of the victims of the mass shooting at 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, was lent to Colorado Springs from the Sacred Cloth Project as a gesture of love, solidarity and healing in the wake of the horrific attack. The flag was displayed in the past following the Pulse nightclub shooting, at the Supreme Court for the 2015 victory for marriage equality, and during other significant occasions in LGBTQ history.
At the ceremony, City Council Representative Nancy Henjum spoke to her district. “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.”
Several other local leaders attended the ceremony including Mayor John Suthers, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez, Fire Chief Randy Royal, District Attorney Michael Allen, and Jessie Pocock, and the Executive Director of Inside Out.
“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, the director of the Sacred Cloth Project.
Inside Out Youth Services executive director and CEO Jessie Pocock spoke as well. “As Colorado Springs mourns, we are heartened that this historic flag has been offered for display,” she stated. “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, in 2003 to create a 1.25-mile-long flag. 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.
For more information, visit Facebook.com/TheSacredClothProject and see here for ways to help the victims and survivors of the Club Q tragedy in Colorado Springs.