Rather than medicalizing and pathologizing the infants that are typically subjected to these procedures, organizations like Interact: Advocates for Intersex Youth define intersex as “a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male,” pointing out that such surgeries are often a means of enforcing a rigid gender binary at a bodily level.
In that light, the circle that Vecchietti added to the Pride flag isn’t just a statement of inclusion, it’s a symbol of an ongoing human rights struggle. As Carpenter wrote in a 2013 blog post for Intersex Human Rights Australia, “We are still fighting for bodily autonomy and genital integrity, and this symbolises the right to be who and how we want to be.”
Vecchietti’s new intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag is also a reflection of recent conversations around inclusivity underneath the broader LGBTQ+ umbrella. Intersex people have long been underrepresented and are rarely visually included in the Pride imagery that is ubiquitous every June. In recent years, the Pride flag has rapidly changed and evolved, first to bring attention to issues facing BIPOC people, then to ensure that the entire trans community was included in a single and more fully comprehensive symbol.
But the Pride flag has also been a fluid document from its inception. The first iteration of the Pride flag emerged in San Francisco in 1978 when artist and activist Gilbert Baker debuted it at the Gay Community Center. Initially, the flag featured eight colors but due to production purposes and commercialization, it was whittled down to six. In Baker’s original vision, the red, orange, and yellow stripes represent life, healing, and sunlight. Green, blue, and violet represent nature, harmony, and spirit, while pink and turquoise represent sexuality and art/magic, respectively.
In a sense, then, Vecchietti’s flag marks a return — and then some — to the splendor of Baker’s original design, featuring 11 distinct colors and a visually-arresting layout. As Vecchietti put it on Twitter: “Intersex inclusion — we need to see it!”
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