This is going to get dicey so sorry in advance.

Even before I came out I have always loved the rainbow. Not rain, not thunderstorms just the rainbows that happened after. I made so much rainbow art as a kid-I like all the colors. Now that I am in the community the rainbow means much more than just the refraction of light it means equality. It means inclusion.

I remember when I went to my first Twin Cities Pride and I remember how much it finally felt to feel like I belonged to a community. After being chased, beat up, mocked and harassed it was almost overwhelming to feel this kind of love. To be hugged by strangers. I had missed it when I moved out of state. The flag in my window was given to me by my ex at the last pride we went to and in Wisconsin my house was vandalized.

Now I thought I’m back in Minnesota where I can fly my flag. Be proud. People are niceish here. I got a call today that is probably familiar to most people in the LGBTQ community. The people who own the neighborhood said the neighbors are offended by my flag and they want me to take it down. It’s too bright. That if I leave it up they are likely to get BLM posters that’s why they don’t even allow American flags. I am saddened by this because I just want to be me, I want to be the person I feel like I am supposed to be and it’s starting to feel really dangerous. I feel like the person I was meant to be is the person they are trying to outlaw/ ban/ banish. How are you supposed to deal with that? It starts with a flag but pretty soon it will be so much more.