Hamilton wore a helmet emblazoned with the Pride Progress flag, a redesigned and more inclusive version of the traditional rainbow flag, and emblazoned with the words “We Stand Together”.
The flag features additional black and brown stripes to emphasize oppression of people of color, as well as pink and blue stripes for the trans flag and a purple circle on a yellow background, which is the intersex flag.
Although the Pride Progress Flag was originally designed by American artist Daniel Quasar in 2018, it was intersex activist and British columnist Valentino Vecchietti who finalized the helmet-seen version of Hamilton, which includes the intersex flag.
According to the United Nations Free and Equal campaign, up to 1.7% of the world’s population is intersex or lacks sexual characteristics that conform to “typical binary notions of men and women.”
“We have to remember that young children with intersex variations who grow up in school see all of this media,” she said. “As an intersex person myself, in school I grew up with so much stigma and shame and felt like I had to keep it hidden… Lewis Hamilton did something amazing. He got me. given a platform to start these conversations on a much bigger scale. ”
Racing Pride, which aims to promote the inclusion of LGBTQ + in motorsport, also praised Hamilton, calling the helmet a “magnificent and powerful gesture of solidarity.”
The Qatar Grand Prix has come under intense scrutiny due to the country’s record on human rights, especially towards LGBTI people. Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by a fine or jail time, and trans people cannot legally change their gender.
However, the report adds: “It does not appear that a person was executed for this reason or at all.”
In an interview with CNN’s Amanda Davies in 2017, Nasser Al Khater, chief executive of the Qatar 2022 World Cup organizing committee, said: “We are not imposing any restrictions on any nationality or anyone in this regard. concerns his gender, his race, his orientation, his religion to attend this World Cup. “
For Vecchietti, this is monumental in terms of representation for the intersex community.
“I wished and hoped for this kind of visibility, as you always do,” she said. “But I had no idea someone as tall as Lewis Hamilton would make this fantastic statement of solidarity.”
.
cnn Sport Gt