Administrative
Report
P.1., File # 23-5900 Meeting Date: 4/18/2023
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: CAMERON HARDING, COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR
TITLE
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING THE PROPOSED PROCESS TO DESIGN
AND FABRICATE A PRIDE FLAG FOR REDONDO BEACH
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At the January 3, 2023 City Council meeting, a referral was made to staff to prepare an item to discuss the possible adoption of a resolution declaring June as Pride Month. The resolution was then drafted, discussed and adopted at the March 14, 2023 City Council meeting. As part of the discussion, the City Council directed that a Pride flag be raised at the City’s Civic Center during the month of June.
Later, at the April 4, 2023 City Council meeting, a referral was made to staff to prepare an item to discuss the possible implementation of a local competition to design a Pride flag specific for Redondo Beach. The Council asked staff to prepare a plan setting forth a timeline, contest guidelines and a budget to administer a design competition and to select a design to serve as the Pride flag for Redondo Beach emphasizing the values of pride, equality, unity, love, and healing. The timeline and contest guidelines are attached heretofore as Exhibit A, and an estimated budget is included in the Fiscal Impact section below. The competition will be open to all current and former Redondo Beach residents. Exhibit B contains consent forms for the contest - one for individuals under the age of 18 and one for individuals 18 and over. Exhibit C is a flyer that, if approved, Councilmembers can use to market the competition to their constituents, and the Community Services Department will use to advertise the contest in a local newspaper and use on social media platforms. In addition, administrative staff at Redondo Union High School have been contacted, and they are excited to get their students working on submissions.
The competition will be announced as soon as the City Council approves the proposed plan.
Submissions will be collected through the “Call for Entry” platform hosted by the Western Arts Federation, one of 6 nonprofit regional arts agencies funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
There will be no cost to individuals to submit their designs, and using an online platform allows for online (remote) scoring by the judges. The deadline to submit entries is May 16, 2023, and the winner will be selected by the Public Art Commission or a panel of judges selected by the Director of the Community Services Department on or around May 24, 2023.
A number of fabricators have been asked to submit quotes to fabricate and deliver a 6’ x 10’ flag (the size of the U.S. Flag that flies at Civic Center). A best estimate of the cost is $600.00 and is included in the budget below. If a design is submitted to a fabricator by May 25, it is possible the City
P.1., File # 23-5900 Meeting Date: 4/18/2023
included in the budget below. If a design is submitted to a fabricator by May 25, it is possible the City could take delivery of the flag and raise it before the City Council meeting on June 6, 2023.
BACKGROUND
Pride Month is a celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and more (LGBTQIA+) people and the history, culture, and contributions of these people and their communities. The practice of celebrating Pride began after the 1969 Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests that took place in New York City.
Many communities throughout the United States recognize June as Pride Month, and since the late 70’s many flags have been flown in Pride celebrations sending messages of community membership, unity, and visibility. Over the years, the Pride flag has evolved to promote greater inclusion and recognize the many communities that celebrate Pride.
Following are just a few of them.
In the late 1970s, Harvey Milk (1930-1978), a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at the time, and the first openly gay man elected to public office, asked his friend Gilbert Baker to design a symbol to represent (what was then referred to as) the gay community. Baker collaborated with his friend Lynn Segerblom (also known as Faerie Argyle Rainbow) to design the rainbow-striped flag with eight colors which debuted at the Gay Freedom Day Parade in S.F. in 1978. The original flag’s hot pink and turquoise stripes (top and bottom) were soon removed because of difficulty manufacturing and/or dying the fabric, resulting in the six-color rainbow flag we are familiar with today.
The 8-Color Baker/Segerblom Rainbow Flag (1978)
P.1., File # 23-5900 Meeting Date: 4/18/2023
The 6-Color Baker/Segerblom Rainbow Flag (Post 1978)
In 2017, the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs released the Philadelphia Pride flag, which added black and brown stripes to the rainbow Pride flag to recognize and uplift Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) in LGBTQIA2-S communities.
Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs (2017)
In 2018, Daniel Quasar, an artist based in Portland, OR, designed the Progress Pride Flag. This flag incorporated the black and brown stripes of the Philadelphia Pride flag in addition to pink, white, and blue stripes in reference to the Trans Pride flag. It is especially important given the role of Transgender and Gender Diverse People of Color in 1969’s Stonewall Uprising.
P.1., File # 23-5900 Meeting Date: 4/18/2023
Daniel Quasar (2018)
In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti designed an intersex-inclusive Pride flag, which includes a purple circle over a yellow triangle as a reference to the Intersex Pride Flag that was created in 2013 by Morgan Carpenter. Purple and yellow are used as intentional contrasts to blue and pink, which are typically thought of as gendered colors. Like BIPOC and Transgender communities, Intersex People have largely been underrepresented - or outright ignored - within broader LGBTQIA2-S movements.
LGTBQIA2S+ is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit and the countless affirmative ways in which people choose to selfidentify.
Morgan Carpenter Flag (2013)
P.1., File # 23-5900 Meeting Date: 4/18/2023
Valentino Vecchietti Flag (2021)
Sources:
LA County Department of Mental Health
Western Connecticut State University Pride Center
COORDINATION
This report was coordinated with the City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney’s Office reviewed the contest consent form. Additionally, administrators from Redondo Union High School have been consulted on the design process and have indicated their desire to work with City staff to help facilitate the competition.
FISCAL IMPACT
The U.S. flag that flies in front of the Police Department at the Civic Center is 6’ x 10.’ The costs related to a “Call for Entries” and fabrication and shipping of a 6’ x 10’ flag are as follows:
ITEM AMOUNT
Call for Entries $475
Ad in Easy Reader (4.6" x 8”) $495
Fabrication of 6’ x 10’ nylon flag (est.) $600
Total $1,570
APPROVED BY:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
· Exhibit A: Competition Guidelines and Timeline
· Exhibit B: Consent Forms
· Exhibit C: Contest Flier