County Will Fly Intersex Progress Pride Flag in June

Intersex Progress Pride Flag. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

The Milwaukee County Board approved a resolution Thursday that will request county departments fly the new Intersex Progress Pride Flag in lieu of the original pride flag, known as the “Rainbow Flag.”

Sup. Peter Burgelis sponsored the resolution seeking to have the new flag displayed outside county buildings for Pride Month. He told his colleagues on the board Thursday that the Intersex Progress Pride Flag, designed in 2021 by Valentino Vecchietti, is an opportunity to show the county “walks the talk” for one of the major planks of the strategic plan for the government created under the Crowley administration, intentional inclusion, which is the “deliberate effort to create spaces of belonging for individuals and county employees,” Burgelis said.

“Pride Month is important to the LGBT community. It’s a moment where we celebrate our true and authentic selves, as our true and authentic selves,” Burgelis said. “We remember those who fought before us for equality, and we thank those who accept us for who we are.”

The new pride flag would be a “very clear symbol of that message,” Burgelis said. He added that LGBTQ county residents are essential to the “economic vitality and quality of life” in Milwaukee, and, “While the progress pride flag is a symbol of inclusiveness in the LGBT community, the progress pride flag is also a symbol of inclusion in our entire community.”

Burgelis’ proposal was met with some opposition on the board. Sup. Deanna Alexander, said the new flag could create a precedent where supervisors are jockeying to have flags representing causes they support flown at various times of the year. Sup. Patti Logsdon echoed this, and also asked about the cost.

Burgelis had a response to that criticism. “Milwaukee County already flies the Pride flag, the original one, in front of the courthouse in the month of June. And there are a host of others on the south side of the building, and I haven’t been able to count those yet, but I’m happy to do that and relay that to the supervisor if needed,” said the supervisor. On the cost, he noted that is resolution is merely a request that the flag is flown, adding, “there is negligible cost to purchase a flag between $35 and $70, which is conceivably absorbed within the department’s budget.”

Sup. Willie Johnson, Jr. weighed in to support Burgelis. “We are striving to be the healthiest county we are striving to have racial equity, we are striving to be what I see as human beings who respect other people for the way they are, the way they were born, for the way they are; so I will be voting for this measure.”

The board voted 16 to 1 in support of the resolution, with Alexander in opposition.