PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia is emerging from coronavirus restrictions in the midst of LGBTQ Pride Month, and some in the hospitality industry are celebrating the season.
To welcome visitors during Pride Month, the Sofitel Hotel has created a "hall of flags" in their lobby.
"The hall of flags is really just an inclusive representation of the LGBTQ community," said Tony Geistwite, director of sales and marketing.
"Since there’s so much diversity within our community, we want to make sure everybody’s included, everyone’s welcome, and they’re clearly represented in our lobby."
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For decades, a flag with six rainbow colors designed by artist Gilbert Baker, has been the most recognizable symbol of LGBTQ communities.
In 2017, Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs commissioned a local marketing firm to create a more inclusive flag. A black stripe and a brown stripe were added to spark conversation about racism in the queer community.
As Philly's Pride flag gained popularity, designer Daniel Quasar created another version in 2018, the "Progress" Pride flag (seen at the top of the page). Geistwite says this is the flag that will first greet Sofitel visitors.
"It has all the colors of the rainbow, including the brown and black stripes. In addition to that, it’s also triangles with the transgender flag which is a light-blue [white] and pink," said Geistwite.
There are also individual flags representing the trans, bisexual, polysexual and lesbian communities.
“Our pansexual pride flag is pink, yellow and blue. Our genderfluid flag is pink, white, purple, black and blue. The queer flag is purple, white and green," he said.
He noted that the lesbian community flag comprises several shades of pink.
He says the goal is to raise awareness about various gender identities during Pride Month.
“Everyone's got their own identity, their personality and their flags.“
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City Representative Sheila Hess said the city is relaxing coronavirus restrictions as a lot of Pride events are taking place. Philadelphia's OutFest, which usually happens in October, has been cancelled, but the city's LGBTQ Pride Festival and parade has been rescheduled to Sept. 4.
“They are being organized and planned in a safe way from multiple organizers," Hess said. "So, the event business is picking back up now.“
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