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Alexis Bittar is reclaiming the American flag. So much so that the celebrity jewelry designer and filmmaker has one hanging outside the Brooklyn home he shares with his husband and their three kids.
“I love it,” Bittar
tells me. “I bought some Gay Pride flags, but I haven’t put them out yet. I like the fact that it’s just the American flag. I like that you don’t know.”
The not knowing he’s referring to is if someone sees the flag, will they assume the home belongs to a right-leaning, maybe even MAGA, family?
That is the premise of Bittar’s directorial debut “Reclaim the Flag,” a documentary short about how the flag can be reclaimed as a symbol of the right to one of unity for all Americans, with a focus on the LGBTQ community. As Lena Waithe says in the film, “Depending on how the United States feels about you, will depend on how you feel about the flag.”
In addition to Waithe, the film features interviews with Gus Kenworthy, Jonathan Capehart, Marc Jacobs, Bill T. Jones, Jim Parsons, George Takei, Gottmik, Gigi Goode, Cheyenne Jackson, Brandon Flynn, Harper Steele, Isaac Mizrahi, John Cameron Mitchell, Paul Tazewell, Raquel Willis, Josh Wood, Jenna Lyons, Justin Tranter and Marc Jacobs.
I spoke to Bittar following recent special Pride Month screenings of the film in New York City and Los Angeles.
“When we filmed it, was right when Trump was coming after universities, so it was very difficult to find people to go on camera,” Bittar says. “People were nervous to talk about America at all. So I think when we filmed it, people were emotional right out of the gate, and then I think the emotions got heightened when they held the flag, when we put the flag in their hand.
“We didn’t tell them that that was going to happen, but you could see this kind of shock, like they were not expecting it,” he continues. “All of a sudden they were faced with their feelings about the American flag.”
Bittar says the flag has been “co-opted” and “weaponized” by the right. “The left really kind of let it be co-opted,” he says. “They didn’t address it.”
There is no mention of Trump in “Reclaim the Flag.” “The thing I really got struck with was the symbol of the American flag and what it was intended to represent, and if we could agree on what this flag was intended to represent and admit that it was never realized,” Bittar says. “It was intended to represent all men are created equal.”
The New York screening, in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, marked the official launch of the Reclaim The Flag movement. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke at the event. “This film asks us a question: What does the American flag mean?” he said. “I will not claim to know every answer. But like so many who sat down for this film, to grapple with these questions with honesty and integrity, I know that there is more we can do to make our nation feel more open and inclusive.”
One thing Bittar won’t be doing is incorporating Old Glory into his jewelry designs. He laughs, “I don’t want to see a crystallized American flag.”
Watch “Reclaim the Flag” below.
