We got a tip about this flag.
We got a tip about this flag.

A reader emailed us a few nights ago to say:

Noticed a larger than life "gay pride" flag flying just below the even larger than life American flag at Harborview hospital today (June 20). Seems fitting in this gay pride month, but I couldn't help wondering how this came to be and whether it was officially sanctioned or an act of subterfuge. I wish I had a camera!

Curious, I just took a walk up to Harborview to find this supposedly huge, possibly subversive flag, and found... well, this:

A totally normal-sized flag.
A totally normal-sized flag.

"It first went up two years ago, this is the third time it's gone up," said Harborview communications manager Barbara Clements when I got her on the phone. "It wasn't subversive. Everyone knew it was going to happen."

She added that Harborview is fully supportive of LGBTQ rights. They've been flying these flags since 2015, when they became "one of the first healthcare organizations in the country to fly rainbow flags in unison during Pride Week." She mentioned that the rainbow flag at Valley Medical Center in Renton is bigger.

But speaking of larger-than-life, you know what totally subverted my attention while I was just trying to grocery shop the other night?

Whoa.
This monster.

According to an employee at QFC, "I believe they did do it last year and we've had it up for three weeks." I asked what the balloons were made out of, just to find out how badly this display's existence subverts the health of the planet, but he had no idea.