LGBTQ Agenda: Trans flag creator moving to Costa Rica, citing US backsliding under Trump

The creator of the transgender Pride flag and her spouse will be relocating to Costa Rica later this year. The couple, both trans women, cited fears about the deterioration of American civil liberties, particularly vis a vis the trans community’s rights, under President Donald Trump.

Monica Helms, 74, said she and Darlene Wagner, 50, are worried “because of the picture that is starting to affect trans people across this country. We live in a red state [Georgia] and are worried the nasty laws other states have passed may come here soon.”

As transgender people have become a target for conservative legislators, states have passed legislation in recent years banning trans people’s ability to access accurate identity documents, receive gender-affirming medical care, or access public accommodations aligned with their gender identities. 

Since Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year, his executive orders have prohibited federal recognition of gender identity, attempted to ban gender-affirming medical care for people under 19, and barred trans women out of women’s sports. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has banned trans people from active service in the military, which was another executive order issued by Trump.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May allowed the administration to move forward with the trans military ban even as litigation continues in federal courts.

“We are worried there’s a possibility something could happen where we end up getting arrested just for being who we are,” Helms said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter June 9. “We don’t want a place where there’s going to be danger like that. … Even blue states are starting to see problems, especially with what’s happening in Los Angeles, and this concerns us a lot. We are a bit afraid.”

In Los Angeles, 700 U.S. Marines are being deployed to respond to protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Trump federalized the California National Guard over the weekend – marking the first time since desegregation this was done – over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom, who Trump said should be arrested, though he did not give a crime of which he says Newsom is guilty.

After Trump’s border czar Tom Homan threatened to arrest California officials, Newsom shot back, “He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me.” (Homan has not had any officials arrested.)

Helms and Wagner said they’d like to live near San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital city. They visited the Latin American country in May and found it a “friendly and beautiful place,” Helms said. Costa Rica has legal same-sex marriage, hate crimes and anti-discrimination protections, allows trans people to have accurate identity documents, and has legal gender-affirming care.

“We’re thinking it’ll be end of August or beginning of September,” Helms said.

Wagner had worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before being laid off as part of Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency-related mass firings earlier this year. (Musk officially left the DOGE job earlier this month.)

“Her contract was ended – she has a contract there right now but the Trump administration fired all the people that signed the contracts, so she can’t go back till somebody signs the contract, but there’s nobody there to do that,” Helms said. “We’re not very hopeful about this.”

Wagner, Helms’ partner of 16 years, told the B.A.R. that, “Monica and I decided together to leave the country; however, just because we are moving to a safer country does not mean we are going to stop activism. We will continue to be engaged in our community both online and through writing and online posts to support and encourage our community during these troubling times.”

Helms got the idea for a transgender pride flag after having a conversation with Michael Page, the creator of the bisexual pride flag, in 1999, she told the B.A.R. in a 2015 interview.

"Then one day," Helms said, "I woke up with the image in my head. I drew it, came up with the colors, and it worked. No matter how you fly it, it's always correct, which signifies finding correctness in our own lives."

The flag's blue stripes represent the traditional color for baby boys, the pink stripes for baby girls. The center white stripe represents intersex, transitioning, and genderqueer people.

Helms was surprised by the popularity of the trans flag a decade ago. In 2015, the San Francisco Pride board of directors selected Helms as the recipient of the Heritage of Pride, Pride Creativity Award to honor her contribution to the transgender and greater LGBTQ community.

Over the years, Helms had issues with the Progress Pride flag designed by Daniel Quasar. Helms’ trans flag is free to use; however, the Progress Pride flag – which uses its colors as part of a chevron – is licensed. Matt Foreman, now the executive director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco, wrote about the issue in a 2022 opinion piece in Gay City News.  

On his website, Quasar notes that his flag is free for non-commercial use. Commercial use is based on permission from the original artist, the site states.

Asked about the use of the Progress Pride flag for a street mural in San Francisco’s Jane Warner Plaza as part of a new design next to the F Market streetcar, Helms said, “As time has gone on, I'm getting less and less worried about the Progress flag. People are using it all over. They used it in [Washington] D.C. during World Pride, and so it’s like, ‘Hey, if people want to use it, fine.’ There’s enough space in the sky for plenty of flags.”

The couple is trying to raise $6,000 for their move. A GoFundMe has already raised $4,850 as of press time.

LGBTQ Agenda is an online column that appears weekly. Got a tip on queer news? Contact John Ferrannini at [email protected]