In observance of International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders placed the Transgender Pride flag alongside the American flag outside his office door in Washington, DC. The transgender flag will fly there for a week, through the rest of the month.
“Discrimination has no place in our society. I am proud to display this flag as a symbol of my support for the transgender people across the country. We must stand with transgender people in all of our communities,” Sanders posted on Facebook earlier this week.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, the “International Transgender Day of Visibility is honored every year on March 31 and is a time to celebrate transgender people around the globe and the courage it takes to live openly and authentically, while also raising awareness around the discrimination trans people still face.”
For more, visit the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.
Notes the Burlington Free Press, which also reported on Sanders’ observance of International Transgender Day of Visibility: “The trans pride flag was created in 1999 and first flown at a Phoenix LGBT pride celebration in 2000, according to Point 5cc, a trans awareness website. The flag was designed by Monica Helms, an openly transgender American woman. Helms said the pastel colors represent male and female.The white stripe is for intersex people. There are many other pride flags, including the original rainbow flag, created by Gilbert Baker in 1978.
