COLORS of Compassion, an internationally-focused social justice initiative, launches in May 2013 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the LGBT Rainbow Flag, paying tribute to the millions of people who continue to be empowered by what has become the icon of the global LGBT community.
The project draws attention to the flag as a symbol of compassion and to each of the flag’s eight original colors, through a participatory experience of creating and displaying flags in the tradition of Tibetan and Bhutanese prayer flags and sharing them with others who need encouragement, hope and strength in their struggles.
Through creative public exhibition of the flags, along with collaborative online video and social media titled FEARLESS, the project brings the celebration to life through public art installations and a global online media production documenting the power and impact the Rainbow Flag continues to have in the lives of people and their communities around the world.
By exploring the deeper meaning behind each of the colors of the flag, creating and sharing simple prayer flags, and the sharing of personal stories, the project seeks to cultivate a greater appreciation for the LGBT Rainbow Flag, build relationships, and show a deeper spiritual nature of the LGBT experience. And through the very act of sharing the flags, it is hoped that others will be further empowered.
The Colors of Compassion project is part of the LGBT Compassion Games, along with Compassion Games International, an outgrowth of the TED Prize and the Charter for Compassion. Reaching out to the LGBT community, the LGBT Compassion Games are designed to bring together gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to engage in compassionate acts and community building, along with civic action for social health and economic justice initiatives.
COLORS of Compassion launches with the presentation of the first LGBT prayer flags being presented to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 19, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky, with flags personalized with prayers from people in the LGBT community.
Kicking off Pride Month, which commemorates the anniversary of the birth of the modern LGBT rights movement, some riders in the annual AIDS/LifeCycle will carry and display flags along their 545 mile, 7-day trek from San Francisco to West Hollywood, California, followed by display in the annual LA Pride Parade and Festival, June 7-9, 2013.
As part of the city of West Hollywood’s One City One Pride arts festival, from May 31 – June 16, flags will be displayed in art installations highlighting this year’s festival theme “The Sacred and The Profane,” which explores the dichotomies of the LGBT experience.
Following the One City One Pride arts festival, flags will be gathered and sent to LGBT individuals and organizations throughout the world to uplift and strengthen them in their continuing struggle for courage and pride.
About the LGBT Compassion Games
The LGBT Compassion Games are a challenge to the LGBTQ community around the world to participate in compassionate actions which transform people’s lives and create a collective impact enhancing social health and economic justice through acts of kindness, generosity and community service, while advancing safety, security and community abundance. The Games include many creative and service-oriented projects in which people can participate around the world.
About Compassion Games International
Created by Seattle-based Compassion Games International, the first city-wide Compassion Games began in Seattle on Friday, September 21, 2012 as a joint project with Seattle’s United Way Day of Caring, and continued through Sunday, October 21, the last day of the Next Fifty at Seattle Center. Participants were called upon to perform acts of service and kindness in Seattle neighborhoods, on the job, in service-providing agencies, and wherever their daily journey took them from Sept. 21 – Oct. 21. The acts of service were organized projects or simple acts of kindness to aid a neighbor in need.
[From a News Release]
