New project aims to document Pride flags all over the world

A global educational project called “Flag in the Map” will document how LGBT people display the Pride flag all over the world. ReportOUT and the Gilbert Baker Foundation are inviting people in every country to take part.

**Participants at an LGBTQ Pride event at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, June 16, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Refugee Flag Kenya)**

The Gilbert Baker Foundation is a US-based organisation dedicated to preserving and extending the legacy of Gilbert Baker, the creator of the original Pride flag. ReportOUT is a UK-based organisation that reports on and documents the lives of LGBT people to educate the broader public about human rights abuses and campaign for social change.

To learn how you can get involved, read the press release below. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31.

FLAG IN THE MAP

Rainbow flag as designed by Gilbert Baker. (Photo courtesy of the Gilbert Baker Foundation) — **The LGBTQ rainbow flag as designed by Gilbert Baker. (Photo courtesy of the Gilbert Baker Foundation)**

CHARTING RAINBOW FLAG STORIES
The Gilbert Baker Foundation has partnered with ReportOUT on “Flag in the Map,” an exciting new educational project that will document people flying their Pride flags, however they are able, in all parts of the world. We will then transform these images into a book and hold two launch exhibitions in both the UK and USA, for Pride Month in 2022.

BE FEATURED IN OUR BOOK AND EXHIBITION
Without doubt, the Pride flag and all of its evolving manifestations, is one of the most recognisable global symbols. It is a sign of love, equality, peace, solidarity, activism and protest to many different people, and it is has become an important symbol of our the global LGBTQI+ human rights movement. The Pride flag belongs to no one person or nation to own it as theirs, it is for all of us, just like our own human rights.

We see people flying the Pride flag in many different ways across many different parts of the globe. The Pride flag is flown at Pride marches, displayed on windows or balconies, or flown from a flagpole in an embassy or private business. However, some people find their nation states much more restrictive, so the Pride flag may be quickly revealed as a form of protest, or it is graffitied, painted or stickered on a wall or simply put up within a bedroom or a private space. People find different and unique ways to share the Pride flag, and we want to celebrate this fact.

PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Our new “Flag in the Map” project will bring people together from all over the world to submit photographs of the Pride flag being flown in as many countries as possible.

Examples could simply be you holding up a Pride flag in your private space, attending a Pride march, holding the flag up with friends, seeing a Pride flag graffiti image, or even creating your own Pride flag and taking a photograph of it. You can be as inventive, edgy or artistic as you wish to be.

Interested in Taking Part?

Start by taking a photograph of the Pride Flag

Be creative and inventive! Take your own photograph using either your camera or your phone. We cannot accept videos. We accept any version of the Pride flag as being relevant.

Complete our short case study and submit your photograph

What name would you like to go by? (This does not have to be real name)
What country are you from? (We only need the country, not a town or city)
Why did you choose this photograph in particular?
What does the Pride flag mean for you?
Submit Here

We will sort through all of the photographs

After the 31st December 2021, ReportOUT and the Gilbert Baker Foundation will meet and will sort out all of the submitted photographs and case studies.

We will create the book and launch it

We will put the chosen photographs and case studies into a beautiful educational book, which will be launched for Pride Month in June 2022.

Then we launch two project exhibitions

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We will use some of submissions from our book to launch two Pride Month exhibitions of the photographs and case studies in both New York, USA and London, U.K. in June 2022. We will also host these exhibitions live via social media so you can tune in and watch them.

We hope that this book will become an educational and awareness raising tool for future generations to document our global Pride flag histories and to reflect on how the Pride flag has become a symbol of human rights for all.

Want to know more?

We invite you to read an interview with Aaron Casserly Stewart, a Director of the Gilbert Baker Foundation, to find out more about our exciting partnership and of Gilbert Baker’s original vision.

Your Safety

We must stress the safety aspects of taking part in this project, especially if you live in a hostile environment. Do not submit if you feel that this will put you at risk of harm or danger. You do not have to give your real name. You do not have to appear in the photograph at all and instead can make it about the flag. If you do want to appear in the photograph, but where you are is not safe, you can remove your face or identifying features from the photograph (or we can). If you can submit your face and feel okay to do this, please still keep an awareness of your own safety.

If you do submit, change your mind and then wish to remove your photograph and case study submission before we publish the book, please contact us before the end of February 2022, at: contactus@reportout.org

Consent

By submitting, you are giving ReportOUT and the Gilbert Baker Foundation, permission to use your photograph and case study for our planned book and exhibition. This also gives both organisations permission to use the photograph and case study digitally on our websites and social media, or any other way in which both organisations deem fit and appropriate to use to present them.