The Pride Train posters that first popped up in June 2017 are back in subway stations across the city, with designs that honor different segments of the LGBTQ community.
Designed to look like MTA service announcements, the posters say, “No bigotry, hatred, or prejudice allowed at this station at any time.” The original posters used the colors of the rainbow Pride flag, but this year, there is a variety of color patterns, each representing a different LGBTQ flag.
“Our community inspires us every year to do more, be more inclusive and to better reflect all the spectrums of the LGBTQIA+ community,” Pride Train organizers said in an email. “We want this year’s posters to bring light to all the LGBTQIA+ communities that are often overlooked.”
So far, there are four different flags represented — the Pride flag, the transgender flag, the bisexual flag and the nonbinary flag — but Pride Train said others will be added throughout the month. Each poster also includes a reminder, like “Bisexuality is not a phase” and “Calling trans youth by their preferred name is suicide prevention.”
The Pride Train posters first appeared in 2017 after President Donald Trump, in his first year in office, failed to recognize June as Pride Month. The creators wanted to show support for the LGBTQ community in one of “the darkest places” in the city: the subway system.
“The feedback has been almost entirely positive,” Pride Train said. “We love hearing people comment things like, ‘This is why I love NYC’ … And of course, we do get our fair share of trolls and haters, but that’s to be expected. All the love keeps us energized and makes us realize how much love there is in the world.”
So far, Pride Train has printed about 700 posters but expects to put up more.
“The posters are being put up all over NYC with the help of our many collaborators,” the creators said.
While Pride Train hasn’t gotten approval from the MTA to put up the posters, they think of the agency as a “silent (very silent) partner.”
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