Has the LGBTQIA2S+ community officially added a purported symbol of the autism community to the Progress Pride flag as of June 18, 2023? No, that's not true: There is no such thing as an "official flag creator for prides and LGBT" organizations, and there are numerous versions of such flags.
The claim was made in a post on Twitter (archived here) on June 19, 2023. It included pictures of two different Intersex Inclusive Pride flags with the caption:
The LGBTQI2S+ flag has been updated by the official flag creator for prides and LGBT orgs.
The new flag has now added AUTISM.
Current flag ⬇️. New Flag ⬇️
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Fri June 23 22:14:30 2023 UTC)
The person who made this claim is Oli London, a self-described media personality who at one point was a member of the transgender community. He has since stirred controversy on social media surrounding his recent adoption of conservative views and transracial identity, as he now identifies as a British man instead of a Korean woman.
London inaccurately described the information he took from a June 18, 2023, tweet (archived here) that was originally posted by Valentino Vecchietti, the designer of the Intersex Inclusive Pride flag. Vecchietti's new version of the Intersex Inclusive Pride flag includes a rainbow infinity symbol, made in celebration of Autistic Pride Day.
They provided an explanation in two June 18, 2023 tweets in the same thread, seen directly underneath the initial posting of the new version of the Intersex Inclusive Pride flag:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Fri June 23 22:14:30 2023 UTC)
Lead Stories contacted GLAAD, which clarified that the Progress Pride flag and Intersex Inclusive Pride flag have not been officially updated to include the Autistic Community and Autism Pride Day. In a June 23, 2023 email, a GLAAD spokesperson added:
The Progress Pride Flag is the rainbow flag with Black and Brown stripes added to represent communities of color, and pink, white, and light blue added to represent the trans community. The black stripe also represents LGBTQ people lost to HIV/AIDS. The Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag adds the intersex community to the Progress Pride Flag, represented with yellow and purple.
While the Autistic Pride Flag does match the description Vecchietti gave, the Autism Society has begun a rebranding effort from the traditional rainbow-colored puzzle piece to the colorful interconnected threads logo.
The history of the individual flags of the LGBTQIA2S+ community does not display the newer version of the Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag. According to the Human Rights Campaign website, the Progress Pride flag and the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag also remain two separate flags.
Lead Stories has also reached out to the National Autism Association to verify what the official logo of the autistic community was as of June 26, 2023 and will update this fact check if a response is received.
Lead Stories has previously debunked the claims that the Progress Pride Flag represents pedophilia and that the "S" in LGBTQIAS Stands For "Satanism."
Additional fact checks about Pride Month can be found here.
