ERG Present Official Diversity Flag To Chief Minister
Equality Rights Group Chair Felix Alvarez and Secretary Charles Trico today presented various Diversity flags to the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, at No. 6 Convent Place.
A statement from the ERG follows below:
With a background of commemoration of the 1969 New York riots that signaled the birth of the LGBT+ movement, Equality Rights Group Chair Felix Alvarez and Secretary Charles Trico today presented various Diversity flags to the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, at No. 6 Convent Place.
'There are many generic 'rainbow' flags; and then there's our very own official Gibraltar-specific LGBT+ Diversity Flag. And it has an interesting history,' a Spokesperson for the group explained.
'In 2012, Chairman Felix Alvarez realised the local LGBT+ community were starting to develop a sense of belonging.
"It was a small step from there to setting up an online competition inviting people to submit designs on social media for a Gib-specific diversity flag. There was no prize involved, just the satisfaction of the design being adopted for use by the LGBT community locally.
'As it was, one particular design stood out in popularity; it was designed by Chris Bossano. And it was eventually declared the winner. Chris subsequently ceded the intellectual rights of the design to ERG.
'But before the design could be adopted, Alvarez took it to then Governor Sir Adrian Johns, who undertook to check the legality of the design, given that it used elements of the Gibraltar national flag.
'A few weeks later, Sir Adrian, having submitted the design to British government experts on the matter, confirmed official legal approval for the flag, and ERG was able to announce the existence of the flag on 29 May 2013 with official endorsement.
'With its attractive castle and key traditional Gibraltar emblem over a rainbow of colours on a white background beneath, the flag was an immediate hit.
"To this day, it remains much in demand, particularly during Pride month each year.
"While Government has flown the flag on several occasions both atop No. 6 and at the border, we were unaware until this year that the relevant Government departments didn't actually have a back-up stock available for use as necessary.
'This morning we were able to correct that situation, and it was a pleasure to be able to present various Diversity flags to the Chief Minister for on-going use.
'We very much appreciate that the Chief Minister made time in his busy schedule to attend to us for this purpose ' the statement ended.
