By Cinara Marquis
Connecting the Myers parking lot to the Myers Fine Arts Building is the rainbow flag pedestrian crossing, a symbol of pride and solidarity at SUNY Plattsburgh. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the rainbow crosswalk since it was first installed in May 2019.
The rainbow crosswalk was first a student initiative started by alumnus Danial Khoshkehpazi in collaboration with the Student Association and the campus LGBTQ+ resource, then called RADIUS.
“When we think about changemaking, and when we think about advocacy, a lot of times we think about going out there voicing our voice. We forget that there’s a lot of collaboration that goes into making change and making a positive impact,” Khoshkehpazi said at the fifth anniversary rainbow crosswalk celebration held Sept. 28. “We don’t just talk about this stuff, but we want to try to make some lasting impressions that were committed to the concepts of diversity and inclusion.”
SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi thanked Khoshkehpazi and others in the initiative of the rainbow crosswalk for their contributions, vision and push for the installation.
“It’s a reminder that (SUNY Plattsburgh) is truly is a place where everyone belongs,” Enyedi said. ”This rainbow walk is more than just a crosswalk. It’s a pathway for understanding, for respect and for accountability.”
The original pride flag was created in the 1970s by gay activist Gilbert Baker. Eight colors were utilized: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony and violet for spirit.
Another — simpler — flag was developed later in 1979 which contained just six colors including red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Each color still still symbolizes its respective meaning in Gilbert’s flag, but they were expanded, too.
Red represents life. It is the color of blood the body’s vital life force — it is also the color of passion.
Orange represents healing, fun and celebration.
Yellow represents sunlight, stimulating new, bright ideas and thoughts.
Green represents nature, prosperity and glory.
Blue represents harmony and peace — it is the color of the soul.
Violet represents spirit, regality and pride.
In 2017, the Philadelphia Pride Flag was created and with it came two new stripes, respectively brown and black, which represented the unique challenges faced by the BIPOC community and their contributions to the LGBTQ+ movement.
“The colors black and brown are important addition, because oftentimes people of color have been left out of the queer narrative, despite being a driving force behind the movement,” said Allison Heard, vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, our society began to shift in understanding and acknowledging the vital role that people of color have played in our society.”
In 2018, the Progress Pride flag was made. It shares the same brown and black stripes but adds the transgender and intersex flags, which create an arrow symbolizing the forward motion of the LGBTQ+ movement.
The transgender flag has two baby blue stripes, representing masculinity, two pink stripes, representing femininity, and one stripe of white in the middle representing transitions and those in between or outside of the gender binary. The intersex flag has a yellow background with a purple circle in the middle representing wholeness, the colors were chosen to contrast with the traditionally gendered colors, blue and pink.
This semester, the rainbow crosswalk was redone as the Progress Pride flag.
“The new flag pays homage to the people who founded the movement by simultaneously drawing attention to how people of color and trans communities remain underserved and discriminated against compared to our white, cis and queer community,” Heard said.
Heard recalled a time where people could not safely fly a flag outside of their homes, whether it be a Pride flag or a Black Lives Matter flag.
“Change doesn’t occur unless we demand it. And before we demand it, we have to know that we deserve it,” Heard said.
There would not be a rainbow crosswalk on campus today without the efforts of Khoshkehpazi and his peers.
“(The rainbow crosswalk) wasn’t just a thing that we did five years ago and we stopped, but here we are five years later, continuing to elevate the message of inclusivity through painting the new flags and doing more,” Khoshkehpazi said. “It’s our continuous commitment to diversity and inclusion and celebrating all students that made this day possible.”
