Creator of Trans Pride Flag Fleeing the U.S. Amid Rising LGBTQ+ Persecution
- Saint Trey Wooden
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
Monica Helms, the Navy veteran who stitched the pink, white and blue fabric that would become the global emblem of transgender pride, is leaving the country she once served.
Helms and her wife, Darlene Wagner, have launched a fundraiser to relocate abroad, citing an intensifying climate of persecution against LGBTQ+ people in the United States.
"We are worried there's a possibility something could happen where we end up getting arrested just for being who we are," Helms told reporters earlier this year.
The couple lives in Georgia, where lawmakers have introduced nearly three dozen anti-trans bills since 2023, four of which have become law. These measures range from banning gender- affirming care for minors to restricting healthcare access for incarcerated trans people. Georgia's so-called "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" further opens the door for discrimination under the guise of faith.
The Trans Legislation Tracker confirms the escalating hostility, while Erin in the Morning's risk assessment map labels Georgia "high risk" for trans residents. For Helms, this is not an abstract warning; it is a daily threat.
Helms is not alone in her decision to flee. According to a May poll by the Williams Institute, nearly half of all trans adults in the U.S. have considered moving out of state or even out of the country. Families of trans youth have already crossed oceans, relocating to countries like Australia and New Zealand.
In one historic case, a 22-year-old trans woman from Arizona filed an asylum claim in Canada earlier this year, seeking protection as a refugee from anti-LGBTQ violence in the United States. If granted, it would mark the first time an American trans person receives asylum abroad due to their identity.
Even in states often considered safe havens, the picture is not rosy. California, New Jersey and others have faced criticism for quietly backing away from pro-LGBTQ protections or allowing hospitals to restrict care for trans youth despite state-level safeguards.
"Even blue states are starting to see problems," Helms said.
The decision to leave is never simple. Relocation often depends on resources, supportive families or financial stability. Many trans people without those networks are forced into a different kind of migration –traveling between states for healthcare, uprooting from communities, or simply surviving in silence.
In this sense, Helms' fight is both extraordinary and ordinary; emblematic of a community under siege, yet also marked by the privileges that make departure possible.
Despite her move, Helms has vowed to continue her activism. She designed the transgender pride flag in 1999 after speaking with the creator of the bisexual pride flag. Its colors are deliberate: pink for girls, blue for boys, white for those who are nonbinary or in transition.
"No matter how you fly it, it's always correct," Helms said, a reminder that trans lives carry their own inherent rightness.
The flag now waves across parades, campuses, bedrooms and statehouses. It has been burned, banned, and blessed. And it will continue to outlive borders, even as its creator seeks safety elsewhere.
Helms' departure is more than a personal story; it's a national indictment. When the architect of one of our most visible trans symbols feels forced to flee, it exposes the deep failure of the U.S. to protect its own citizens.
This is not just about Georgia, or even the South. It is about a country where laws are written as weapons, where faith is bent into a shield for hate, and where freedom is claimed while entire communities are told their existence is unspeakable.
Helms' journey signals the gravity of our political moment –trans flight is not metaphor, but migration. Refugee status is no longer theoretical; is happening now, to our neighbors, our kin, and our elders.
And yet, even in exile, the flag she creates remains. It flutters as a reminder of persistence, of correctness, of belonging. If America refuses to be home, trans people Will still car sanctuaries elsewhere.
But the shame is ours to bear, that the land of "liberty" has become a place its own children must escape.