Written by CEO Albert Kruger
Please find below an explanation for the community acronym and pride flag that Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has adopted in our communications. We suggest our partners and allies use the same when talking to and about our communities.
FROM LGBT TO LGBTQIA+: THE EVOLUTION OF OUR ACRONYM
This acronym is L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+.
Identity within the community is varied. LGBTQIA+ people don’t necessarily all identify in the same way, so words really matter. To ensure you are communicating in an inclusive way, we encourage you to understand what these definitions mean and when, why and how we use them.
The acronym Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras uses is LGBTQIA+ and we suggest that our partners use it too.
For our communities, the acronym is important; it says ‘we see you for who you are’.
THE PROGRESS PRIDE FLAG
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras now uses the Progress Pride Flag as the official flag to represent our communities.
In recent years, brands and activists around the world have simultaneously and without any co-ordination, been adopting ‘The Progress Flag’ as their symbol for LGBTQIA+ people.
Originally designed in 2018 by non-binary artist and graphic designer Daniel Quasar (xe/they), the Progressive Pride Flag aims to integrate the full extent of our LGBTQIA+ communities. Building upon the striped rainbow flag which has symbolised queer pride since the 70s, the Progress Pride flag includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalised communities of colour, along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the transgender flag.
According to Quasar, the newer stripes are visually separated from the original pride flag to “shift focus and emphasis to what is important in our current community climate.”