Brock University introduced and legitimized the “Progress Pride” flag while misleadingly claiming credit for the new design.
First hoisted up the flagpole by Brock University for on-campus “Pride Week” in January 2020, the new “Progress Pride” flag –the one with the intersecting chevrons–has been touted as if it had been designed by the university Equity department, but that omits the rest of the story.
The “Progress Pride” flag — a modification of the commonly used rainbow Pride flag, featuring colour-coded chevrons — was designed in 2018 in Portland, Oregon by graphic artist and drag performer Daniel Quasar.
However his (“their”) name has never been mentioned by Brock University. At no point has Brock HRE acknowledgement Quasar and the origins in Portland in 2018.
Brock HRE merely made a minor modification to the design by adding a purple triangle, and rewriting the definitions of the new colours.
HRE claimed as recently as this year that it “developed the design”, although that may refer to the technicalities of painting the Quasar-developed concept on the road.
Conversely, Quasar took pains to detail and credit and consideration to the artist of the well-known and well-established six-colour “Pride Flag”.
HRE not only appropriated the design, but modified it and its definitions–sanitizing it and attaching a strange acronym.
Whereas Quasar’s original design definitions specified the black and brown also carry a recognition of those who have died from HIV/AIDS, Brock HRE removed that point. instead, Brock said the black and brown colours represent QTPOC/2SLGBTQ+ individuals”
Whereas Quasar’s original design definitions specified the black and brown also carry a recognition of thoe who have died from HIV/AIDS, Brock HRE removed that point. instead, Brock said the black and brown colours “represent QTPOC/2SLGBTQ+ individuals”
(To translate the acronym, that would be “Queer-Trans-People-of-Color-Slash-Two-Spirit-Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans-Queer-Plus”)
All-inclusive
In both the Instagram post in January 2020 and the Niagara Region press release in 2022, the claim is made that the flag is “all-inclusive”, yet its definitions contain very limited set of identarian categories.
Above screenshots are from January 2020
