Photo: Iqaluit hoists the rainbow flag at city hall

This rainbow flag, which represents equality and inclusiveness and is also known as the gay pride flag, is raised over Iqaluit Feb. 10 before about a dozen bystanders. Several major cities in Canada, including Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa, have raised the flag to protest Russia’s anti-gay laws, coinciding with the winter Olympic games in the Russian city of Sochi. Iqaluit city councillor Kenny Bell asked Iqaluit’s director of corporate affairs John Mabberi-Mudonyi to raise the flag, and “he had no problem with it,” Bell said. The flag isn’t being raised to protest the Olympics, Bell said, but “to show support for equality.” Iqaluit resident Anubha Momin said the idea originated on Twitter: “So I asked everyone I knew if they had a flag.” (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)