Trans flag creator attempts to flee US over rising transphobia and ‘nasty laws’

The creator of the trans flag, Monica Helms, is attempting to flee the ‘unsafe’ United States.

The US Navy veteran announced she and her wife plan to leave their home in Marietta, Georgia, over growing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in the US under president Donald Trump.

Since 2023, US state legislatures have proposed at least 1,647 anti-LGBTQ+ bills ranging from gender-affirming care bans to LGBTQ+ school curriculum censorship, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 604 bills have been proposed since January 2025 alone.

The couple said in a statement on GoFundMe that they are trying to move to Costa Rica, which they say is “safer than the US is today.”

“We will not abandon our activism in Costa Rica,” they continued. “[If] others want to move there, [we] will help any way we can.”

Helms, 74, famously created the transgender Pride flag in 1999. The flag was first flown at a Pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2000. The veteran also served in the US Navy between 1970 and 1978 and served aboard two submarines during her career.

Speaking to the Bay Area Reporter in June, she expressed a desire to escape Georgia, a Republican-majority state, over concerns that “nasty laws in other states [that] have passed may come here soon.”

Since 2023, Georgia lawmakers have proposed 32 anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Four have passed into law, and one law initially passed is currently being challenged in court.

“We don’t want a place where there’s going to be danger like that,” Helms continued. “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 June, an executive order banning gender-affirming care for under-19s, signed by Trump, forced the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) to shutter its trans youth care program after finding “no viable alternative” that would allow it to continue providing care.

Several other hospitals in Washington DC, California, and Virginia – states where trans youth healthcare is legal – have since taken similar decisions, often citing political pressure.

Helms said in June that the couple were aiming to leave the US for Costa Rica by September, but has since said they are “short on funds to make this happen.”

At the time of reporting, they have raised $9,677 of their $10,000 target, with some donations reaching $2,000.