When Gilbert Baker and a few friends hand-stitched the first rainbow flags in 1978, they were reaching for something a symbol could do that words could not: gather a scattered people under one sky to unite them in a sense of belonging.

In the decades since, that single flag has multiplied into many. Stripes have been added for those long kept at the margins, and whole new banners have risen for trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, intersex, and asexual kin. Each banner a manner of naming and claiming community, indicating belonging, and expressing identity.

This morning we trace that history, considering it’s importance and it’s implications. Is the widening field of flags a sign of fracture or a flowering of diversity? What does it mean to be seen and how do we witness to one another? Whatever banner you carry, or none at all, you are welcome here. No one should ever have to choose between being safe and being known.

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Topics: Beloved Community, Community, diversity, Freedom, Heritage, Liberating Love, Playful Spirits, Presence, Pride, Resistance