TL;DR at end
Today the Utah flag ban, or HB-77, has been enacted. This is the first statewide flag ban. It prohibits all flags except those on a very short list — the list including the usa and state flags, military flags, and flags of colleges, to name a few — from being displayed in/around public government and school buildings. The bill was made specifically to target pride flags and promote “political neutrality,” which we’re sorry to say it is not actually doing. Instead, banning pride flags and other inclusive flags such as the Juneteenth flag are showing that the Utah government does not truly care about its citizens from marginalized communities and that it would rather remove all signs of them to allow hatred instead.
There is nothing political about a pride flag. There is nothing political about showing support for groups of oppressed people who often face violence and discrimination simply for being a part of these marginalized communities, which is not something they have any control over in the first place. What is political is catering to the majority of non-oppressed people who don’t want to be faced with anything different because it makes them feel uncomfortable. And by the way, the lives of people from marginalized communities matter more than a privileged person’s brief feelings of discomfort. Discomfort that could easily go away if these people educated themselves and became less ignorant. Embrace and love people who are different from you. Don’t hate them and look down on them simply because they’re not enough like you.
PSES is doing things to protest this law and its blatant violation of freedom of speech and disdain for human rights through the Pride Flags for Peace initiative. If you want to learn some ways to help protest these laws, you can go to our Pride Flags for Peace page. You can also access this by clicking the button under our description at the top of our Tumblr site. Part of this includes the Small Flags Support Students effort, a protest involving placing tiny pride flags around schools to show support for LGBTQ+ students, especially those living in places with flag bans.
(This is technically legal in Utah, since the only flags banned there at the moment are fabric ones. We’re not quite sure what Idaho defines as a flag in its law, so we don’t know if there are loopholes for that one. Even so, civil disobedience is a very powerful protest measure. Just make sure you are being nonviolent, exercising extreme caution, and know your rights.)
TL;DR Utah's flag ban went into action today and we will not stand for it. Marginalized communities deserve support and pride flags are not political. We have an activism project called Small Flags Support Students on the Pride Flags for Peace section of our Tumblr site if you are interested in helping protest these laws.
Even if you’re not able to participate in any of our efforts, we hope you find some other ways to spread awareness about and take action against these harmful bans. We have to show that we will not be forced out by these bans. They will only serve as a rallying point to make us stronger and get us to work together. We will not be silenced. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️