LGBTQ Campaign Cleverly Evades Russia’s Anti-Pride Flag Law Via Football Jerseys

[Click here to view the video in this article]

FELGTB, Spain’s largest organization advocating LGBTQ rights, recently sent six individuals from six different countries to denounce Russia’s anti-LGBTQ stance while the country plays host to the 2018 FIFA World Cup—an international event that coincidentally overlaps with the Pride Month of June.

With help from creative agency LOLA MullenLowe, FELGTB managed to bypass Russia’s strict anti-LGBTQ laws in its project dubbed ‘The Hidden Flag’.

Homosexuality remains largely frowned upon in Russia, where LGBTQ individuals face discrimination, violence, and even jail time.

Since public demonstrations to call for better LGBTQ rights and displaying the rainbow Pride flag in public are strictly prohibited by law, the team decided to bypass these policies through the strategic use of Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia’s football jerseys.

The six individuals lined up in these apparels and walked around various locations in Russia, thereby forming the rainbow Pride flag.

The creative improvisation quickly caught on through Twitter and the media; ultimately garnering mixed responses. While many hailed the campaign for raising awareness about LGBTQ rights in a largely homophobic country, others called it disrespectful to the host country for capitalizing on the event, and that the campaign simply would not do anything to alter such a complex issue.

Then again, change, always takes time. See more images from the campaign inside LOLA MullenLowe’s Instagram album below.

in russia, the act of displaying the LGBT flag in public can get you arrested. so these 6 activists from latin america resorted to creativity: wearing uniforms from their countries' football teams, they turned themselves into the flag and walked around moscow with pride. ��🌈 pic.twitter.com/7Q2HgLemzh

— gabi (@harleivy) July 8, 2018

Gay “propaganda” is banned on Russia so this group improvised. from r/pics

La bandera arcoíris regatea las leyes rusas y se planta en pleno Mundial ��🌈��🇷🇺 Muy orgullosxs de presentar #HiddenFlag. La protesta de la @FELGTB en Rusia #Pride #Orgullo2018 #Rusia2018 👉�theHiddenFlag.org @tles @primocontent @diego.speroni

A post shared by LOLA MullenLowe (@lolamullenlowe) on Jul 6, 2018 at 5:29am PDT

[via Upworthy and The Drum, video via Federación Estatal LGTB FELGTB, images via The Hidden Flag]