Mark your calendar: Saturday, December 1, is World AIDS Day

 

The newly-elected Mayor Teri Johnston, in conjunction with LoveIsLoveFoundation, Inc. President Aaron Huntsman, will officially replace the 6-color rainbow flag flying above Key West City Hall with the original 8-stripe version.

This will occur immediately preceding a candlelight procession in honor of World AIDS Day at 4:30 p.m. at the beginning of the procession route. The procession route will start at City Hall at Glynn Archer School (United and White Streets) and end at the Key West AIDS Memorial.

The timing has particular resonance, Huntsman explains.

“This is not a political act,” he explains, “but one promoting diversity and historical accuracy. This is the version the late Gilbert Baker designed and preferred and I can think of no better day to reflect his wish than World AIDS Day.”

Use of the 8-stripe original rainbow flag by the gay community began in 1978 when  Baker and thirty volunteers hand-stitched and hand-dyed a prototype for the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade.

Each color has significance, representing a component of the community:

  1. Hot Pink for Sex
  2. Red for Life
  3. Orange for Healing
  4. Yellow for Sun
  5. Green for Nature
  6. Turquoise for Art
  7. Indigo for Harmony
  8. Violet for Spirit

Although the flag is often hoisted during PRIDE festivities around the country, it typically comes down afterward. Only five City Halls consistently feature the Rainbow flag, four of them in Florida: West Palm Beach, Wilton Manors (Fort Lauderdale), Boynton Beach and Key West (the other is San Francisco).

“The public is invited to show up a little before the annual candlelight procession to the Edward B. Knight Pier to witness this ‘changing of the guard’,” Johnston notes. “This is part of my campaign promise to our community, and that’s full inclusiveness.

The LoveIsLove Foundation was founded by Huntsman and (now husband) William Lee Jones after the same-sex marriage ban was overturned in Florida due to their lawsuit, spearheaded by local attorney Bernadette Restivo.

The new Rainbow flag will be maintained by the Foundation and, due to wear from South Florida elements, will replaced as necessary.

For more information about the Foundation’s work, access LoveIsLoveFoundation.com.

 

What: The Raising Of The Rainbow

Where: Key West City Hall @ Glynn Archer School,

When: 4:00 p.m. Saturday, December 1

Who: Teri Johnston, Key West Mayor

Aaron Huntsman, President/Founder, LoveIsLove Foundation, Inc.

Scott Pridgen, Executive Director, A.H. of Monroe County, Inc.

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