At their regional school, Monica Helms and a fellow campaigner Vincent Bolt preach LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Author of the article: Kyle Darbyson
On Wednesday evening at Sault College, advocate Monica Helms speaks to local people of the LGBTQ+ area and its allies while sporting a t-shirt with the trans symbol on it. Helms created the transgender flag in 1999 and is now on a national talking engagement on behalf of the International Day of Pink.
On Wednesday, Sault College leaders made sure to fly the transgender flag to allow Monica Helms, the founder of the program.
Helms planned to use this strategy more frequently to promote the International Day of Pink’s 2024 Visibility Tour by dropping by the post-secondary class for an evening speaking engagement with local LGBTQ+ group members and its supporters.
Although Helms is scheduled to travel across the nation for the next six weeks, her first official stop was on Wednesday at Sault College, which gave her the chance to discuss the transgender flag and how it fits into her own journey of self-discovery.
“The process started a long time ago,” Helms said in front of Wednesday’s masses of a few hundred people.
“In 1956, I prayed to God to make me a woman at the age of five. Where in 1956 is a five-year-old who hasn’t read and write going to find something out about transsexuality”?
Helms was forced to mostly keep her difficult feelings to herself over the course of the next ten years, particularly when she spent time in the US Navy between 1970 and 1978.
However, after getting more involved with activism through the 1980s and 1990s, Helms finally felt comfortable enough to go through the transition process and reapplied to a soldiers organization under the name “Monica.”
In 1999, Helms combined usually stereotyped colors (blue for boys and pink for girls) with a striking white line in the middle to create a flag for transgender people. In response to a conversation with lesbian flag creator Michael Page, Helms made a flag for transgender individuals.
The light in the middle is intended for those who are transitioning, non-binary, or fluid. “Anybody who does not feel comfortable in a linear situation,” Helms said on Wednesday.
No matter which way you fly it, the design is always correct, which indicates that we find truth in our own life.
On Wednesday evening at Sault College, advocate Monica Helms speaks to local people of the LGBTQ+ area and its allies while sporting a t-shirt with the trans symbol on it. Helms was the trans flag’s designer in 1999, and she is currently on a national talking engagement on behalf of the International Day of Pink.
Members of the wider LGBTQ+ community have since enthusiastically adopted Helms’ transgender flag style, which is a typical sight at all kinds of pride events along with the customary rainbow flag.
Helms is pleased to report that her flag has been flown on all seven continents (including Antarctica), even though the design is celebrating its 25th birthday this year.
She stated, “I want to see it in the international space station along with the rainbow flag.”
Social worker Vincent Bolt said in a statement to the crowd on Wednesday that the transgender flag has helped him through some “very depressed days” and that he is just one of the many people who has been affected by Helms’ activism.
Bolt is presently completely secure in his transgender identity and is using his past experiences to fund his research into the Sudbury area’s homeless LGBTQ+ children. Despite growing up, he has been subjected to endless bullying and harassment, which has led to numerous suicide attempts.
“2SLGBTQ+ people make up 10 percent of the population, but gay and trans children make up to 40 percent of the homeless youth population,” said Bolt, who is completing his master’s thesis in social work through the University of Victoria.
“And why do so many of us sleep on the streets? It’s because of dismissal from home. This is why events like this are so crucial. It is for people to know that they’re not only.”
On Wednesday afternoon, researcher Vincent Bolt addresses transgender flag creator Monica Helms (far left) and local LGBTQ+ community members and allies at Sault College. Bolt is working toward the University of Victoria to complete his master’s thesis on social work and is presently looking into the situation of LGBTQ+ youth in the Sudbury area.
Amanda Zuke, Sault Pride head, was pleased that the speaking engagement with Helms and Bolt on Wednesday went smoothly.
2023 was marred by neighborhood protests that targeted drag story day events and LGBTQ+ material in schools, despite the majority of the year ending on a positive note for the Sault’s gay community with the trans flag being raised for the first time at city hall.
Zuke claimed that the community’s involvement in organizing these protests was a significant part of their ongoing effort to dispel myths about LGBTQ+ people that are recurring in contemporary culture war discourse.
“We
really believe it’s crucial to get the facts out,” the statement read. “As Monica said, she knew she was a girl when she was five years old,” Zuke said.
“Nobody is grooming, nobody is changing kids. When we conduct these counterprotests, what we’re advocating for is letting kids be themselves. And this (event) ties into that very closely.”
At the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library on January 14, 2023, protesters from both sides offer their opinions.
Following Wednesday’s talk at Sault College, Helms is expected to make another 11 stops on this year’s Visibility Tour.
Her upcoming events are scheduled for March 16 and March 20 in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Kingston.
Helms will also be speaking at the end of these talks, which will end on April 27 in Vancouver, along with drag performer Venus Oshun (Aja) and LGBTQ+ activists Adrienne Rosen and Lamar Van Dyke (representing Brunswick Four).
The official website for the International Day of Pink contains a full list of the 2024 Visibility Tour schedule.
The International Day of Pink takes place on April 10 this year and aims to raise awareness of bullying and discrimination in all its forms.
The Federal Government provides funding for the Local Journalism Initiative, which is made possible by the federal government.
