Wright State University hosted TransOhio’s 15th Trans and Ally Symposium over the weekend.
WYSO Intern and Community Voices Producer Lee Wade spoke with Monica Helms, the visionary behind the transgender flag, who presented the keynote address at the symposium.
The following transcript is lightly edited for length and clarity.
Monica Helms: I was having dinner with Michael Page, who was the creator of the bisexual pride flag. That and the rainbow flag were the only two that existed then. He said, 'You know, the trans community could use a flag, too.' And I gave it some thought, and he said, 'But you got to keep it simple because the least amount of stitches, the cheaper it is for them to sell it.'
So, it was about two weeks later. I woke up one morning, and the image of the flag came to me. So I got up, drew it out, and said, 'That looks good.'
I contacted the people who made the bisexual pride flag, and they sent me some swatches. And I picked out the swatches. A week later, they sent me the first flag.
I started seeing the flag and the colors at Pride events worldwide, and I thought, 'Oh my God, it's catching on. People are using it.'Monica Helms
The story is pretty simple, but people started asking me all the time, 'What is that? And, you know, I had to tell them everything about it and, 'Where can they get one'? And it just started building and building. And I didn't realize behind the scenes that everything was building to where it turned out as it is today.
It was not until 2013 that I started seeing the flag and the colors at Pride events worldwide, and I thought, 'Oh my God, it's catching on. People are using it.'
Since I got the first one, I had to find out where I could put it to keep it safe. So, I decided to start at the top. I contacted the Smithsonian, and they were beginning to collect LGBTQ items. So, yeah, they were interested in the flag. So, in 2014, I donated the flag to the Smithsonian. It was on the same day, 15 years earlier, that I created the flag. So, I call August 19th Transgender Flag Day.
Lee Wade: What is the significance and meaning behind the flag?
Helms: Blue is the traditional color for baby boys, and pink is for girls, but the white stripe in the middle is for those people who are non-binary or gender fluid or don't have any gender thoughts at all—they fit in in the white part. The design is such that no matter which way you fly it, it's always correct, which signifies us finding correctness in our lives.
Wade: The transgender flag is a symbol that a community of people embrace and fly with pride. What does it mean to have created something that a group of people identify with?
Helms: I feel very happy that I gave people something to rally around and show their pride in being trans or non-binary. Not only that, my flag started a tradition of people coming up with their own flags. There are like 92 different flags now in our community. And I hope to think that I was the one that got it started.
This story was produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO.
