When we interrogate the symbolism of the LGBTQ flag, we can disrupt the myth that queer communities have always been harmonious. I neither recognized nor thought about the fact that LGBTQ+ communities, like Black communities, weren’t monoliths or communities made up of unmitigated unity. This excerpt, adapted from The Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf: On the Myth of LGBTQ+ Solidarity by Kaila Adia Story (Beacon Press, 2025), appears by permission of the publisher. Her research examines the intersections of race and sexuality, with special attention to Black feminism, Black lesbians, and Black queer identity. In 2017, Story was named an LGBTQ+ community leader and change maker by NBC’s inaugural #Pride30.