The Flag in the Map Project

The Flag in the Map Project!

ReportOUT have teamed up with the Gilbert Baker Foundation for our exciting ‘Flag in the Map’ project. This educational project will document people flying their Pride flags, however they are able, in all parts of the world. We will then transform these images into a book and hold two launch exhibitions in both the U.K. and USA, for Pride Month in 2022.

Read more about this project below and find out how you can feature in the book and exhibition.

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Without doubt, the Pride flag and all of its evolving manifestations, is one of the most recognisable global symbols. It is a sign of love, equality, peace, solidarity, activism and protest to many different people, and it is has become an important symbol of our the global LGBTQI+ human rights movement. The Pride flag belongs to no one person or nation to own it as theirs, it is for all of us, just like our own human rights.

At ReportOUT, we see people flying the Pride flag in many different ways across many different parts of the globe. The Pride flag is flown at Pride marches, displayed on windows or balconies, or flown from a flagpole in an embassy or private business. However, some people find their nation states much more restrictive, so the Pride flag may be quickly revealed as a form of protest, or it is graffitied, painted or stickered on a wall or simply put up within a bedroom or a private space. People find different and unique ways to share the Pride flag, and we want to celebrate this fact.

So what are we going to do?

ReportOUT have partnered with the fantastic Gilbert Baker Foundation for a special project to mark Pride Month in 2022. Our new ‘Flag in the Map’ project will bring people together from all over the world to submit photographs of the Pride flag being flown in as many countries as possible.

Examples could simply be you holding up a Pride flag in your private space, attending a Pride march, holding the flag up with friends, seeing a Pride flag graffiti image, or even creating your own Pride flag and taking a photograph of it. You can be as inventive, edgy or artistic

as you wish to be.

Interested in taking part?

This is our plan of how you can get involved:

Step 1: Start by taking a photograph of the Pride flag!

Be creative and inventive! Take your own photograph using either your camera or your phone. We cannot accept videos. We accept any version of the Pride flag as being relevant.

Step 2: Now also complete our short case study and submit your photograph

You can submit your photograph below. This will also ask you the following simple questions:

What name would you like to go by? (This does not have to be real name)
what country are you from? (We only need the country, not a town or city)
Why did you choose this photograph in particular?
What does the Pride flag mean for you?

Where do I now submit my photograph and case study?

You can submit your photograph and complete the case study here.

Please read our section below about your safety and consent in this project.

We also encourage you to sign up to our newsletter so you can read our progress updates about our Flag in the Map project, including exclusive invites to attend our launch events.

Deadline for photo submissions has now passed!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3: We will sort through all of the photographs

After the 31st December 2021, ReportOUT and the Gilbert Baker Foundation will meet and will sort out all of the submitted photographs and case studies

Step 4: We will create the book and launch it

We will put the chosen photographs and case studies into a beautiful educational book, which will be launched for Pride Month in June 2022.

Step 5: Then we launch two project exhibitions

We will use some of submissions from our book to launch two Pride Month exhibitions of the photographs and case studies in both New York, USA and London, U.K. in June 2022. We will also host these exhibitions live via social media so you can tune in and watch them.

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

We hope that this book will become an educational and awareness raising tool for future generations to document our global Pride flag histories and to reflect on how the Pride flag has become a symbol of human rights for all.

Want to know more?

We invite you to read our interview with Aaron Casserly Stewart, a Director of the Gilbert Baker Foundation, to find out more about our exciting partnership and of Gilbert Baker’s original vision.

Your safety

Consent

We must stress the safety aspects of taking part in this project, especially if you live in a hostile environment. Do not submit if you feel that this will put you at risk of harm or danger. You do not have to give your real name. You do not have to appear in the photograph at all and instead can make it about the flag. If you do want to appear in the photograph, but where you are is not safe, you can remove your face or identifying features from the photograph (or we can). If you can submit your face and feel okay to do this, please still keep an awareness of your own safety.

If you do submit, change your mind and then wish to remove your photograph and case study submission before we publish the book, please contact us before the end of February 2022, at: contactus@reportout.org

By submitting, you are giving ReportOUT and the Gilbert Baker Foundation, permission to use your photograph and case study for our planned book and exhibition. This also gives both organisations permission to use the photograph and case study digitally on our websites and social media, or any other way in which both organisations deem fit and appropriate to use to present them