Ashes to Pride: Swedish First Hill Family Medicine

Together with Swedish First Hill Family Medicine and their LGBTQIA+ community, Seattle artist, Glynn Rosenberg, created this painting in response to the burning of the Pride flag in the clinic. It serves as a memorial to the violence and a declaration of the clinic’s unwavering support for LGBTQIA+ patients and staff. The piece is filled with symbols of the past, present, and future of queer activism.

Around the edges of the painting runs a border of Pride flags: the Two-Spirit, Bisexual, Nonbinary, Transgender, and Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flags. Along the left and right sides, the Ally Flag acts like strong columns, representing how allies support and protect queer communities.

The flowers honor both renewal and reclamation. Fireweed, which blooms in the wake of wildfires, reflects how the clinic will continue to grow and flourish despite the trauma of the fire. Lavender stands for the lesbian community and recalls the Lavender Scare of the 1950s–60s, when people suspected of being gay were purged from government jobs. Pansies echo the reclamation of a word once used to negatively describe gay men.

Pink triangles in the painting connect to the history of ACT UP and the AIDS crisis. In the 1980s, ACT UP adopted the inverted pink triangle, once a mark of persecution, with the slogan “Silence = Death” to demand government action during the AIDS epidemic. Their protests transformed public awareness, forced reforms in drug approval, and expanded access to treatment.

Finally, two hormone vials rest in the garden. These bottles act as symbols of support to transgender and nonbinary people seeking gender-affirming care, and serve as a reminder that today’s fight for transgender healthcare is inseparable from the broader legacy of LGBTQIA+ activism.