by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Contributor

 

Less than two weeks after submitting a letter of intent to bid on selection as host city for Gay Games IX, Miami Beach, Fla. reversed a city law banning the flying of the rainbow flag–and raised a multicolored banner high over City Hall.

The flag raising drew reportage from local CBS affiliate Channel 4, which posted a story online Nov. 11.

The so-called gay pride flag was created by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco artist, whose early version of the flag included two additional stripes, in comparison to the most common such flag of today.

Baker’s flag included the six stripes seen on most contemporary flags, along with a hot pink stripe and an indigo stripe, according to a Wikipedia article.

Baker’s flag was hoisted in the June 25, 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco, the Wikipedia article said, going on to note that demand for the flag skyrocketed in the aftermath of the murder of openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, whose career–and whose struggle against a Proposition 8-like anti-gay ballot initiative–is the focus of a new biopic starring Sean Penn.

The CBS-4 story quoted Miami Beach mayor Matti Herrera Bower, who said of the newly-hoisted pride flag, “I think that this is just another step to making a whole city, a city that really welcomes gays and lesbians.”

The city commission struck down a long-standing ordinance forbidding the flying of the rainbow flag in Miami Beach–a curious anachronism for a city known as a favorite gay tourism spot.

The CBS-4 story quoted Miami Beach resident Luis Randazzo, who said, “It’s a historic day for us.

“The gay flag is a representation of diversity,” continued Randazzo. “It represents equality. It represents the cultural identity of the community.”

As another resident put it: “Miami Beach has a little bit of everything.

“I think that’s what makes Miami Beach what it is–so I’m okay with it.”

The presence of the flag might also help make Miami Beach the next host city for the Gay Games. Miami was one of four American cities to submit letters to the Federation of Gay Games expressing the intention of bidding to become the site for the next Gay Games in 2014.

Boston, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C. also submitted letters notifying the FGG that those cities, too, intend to throw their hats into the ring for the honor–and the profit–of hosting the games, according to a release from the FGG.

Site inspectors from the FGG will travel to each of the four cities next summer to determine which one will be chosen to host the 2014 Games.

Every four years, more than eleven thousand athletes and other participants join together for the world’s largest GLBT sporting and cultural event, according to the FGG news release.

The 2010 Games are already scheduled to take place in Cologne, Germany.

Past host cities have included San Francisco (twice: 1982 and again in 1986), Vancouver (1990), New York (1994), Amsterdam (1998), Sydney (2002), and Chicago (2006).

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