Interleaf

Photoshop

LGBTQ+ people rarely fit into neat little boxes. Queer identities often overlap or may not be visible in daily life. A bisexual can be in a heterosexual relationship. A genderqueer person can be heterosexual. A trans person may not be sexual at all. All of these identities are valid nonetheless. No single person or subculture can grasp the whole perspective of what it means to be queer — especially if you add the struggles of being a disabled, religious, black, indigenous... queer. It is therefore vital to all of us to exchange our experiences, uplift each other and support queer issues even if they don't impact us directly. Gatekeeping only feeds the narrative of us being a tiny minority that can be ignored. Pride means not just affirming who we are, but also validating experiences foreign to our own. The artwork visualises different viewpoints. Six small examples represent pan, genderqueer, bi, ace, aro and trans subcultures, all inspired by their respective pride colours. A larger picture combines several of those viewpoints in a single picture. It may not look harmonic, will certainly be confusing, but hopefully it’s a truer representation of individuals behind the flag.