ABOVE: Photos via Ben Johansen/Facebook.
After making history on July 11 by flying into space, Sir Richard Branson’s ribbon stole the show.
The billionaire entrepreneur kept the promise he made to honor the victims of the Pulse shooting by wearing an LGBTQ Pride ribbon on his chest during his trip to space, 50 miles above the earth.
“Somebody who lost a loved one at the Orlando massacre asked if I would do that,” Branson told the Daily Mail. “We also have many, many friends who are gay and I know people who lost friends there.”
Branson became the first billionaire to reach space, beating out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who both plan on reaching the achievement soon.
Following his arrival back on earth, Branson celebrated with his crew and reflected on his historical achievement.
“The whole thing was magical,” he said. “We’re here to make space more accessible to all, and we’re going to turn the next generation of dreamers to the next generation of astronauts.”
In a video posted to his Twitter, Branson is seen wearing the colorful rainbow ribbon as declares his mission statement. The ribbon is part of the Orlando Ribbon Project that was founded by Ben Johansen shortly after the tragic massacre at Pulse.
My mission statement is to turn the dream of space travel into a reality – for my grandchildren, for your grandchildren, for everyone.
Watch the launch of the next space age at 6 am PT | 9 am ET | 2 pm BST on https://t.co/1313b4RAKI @virgingalactic #Unity22 pic.twitter.com/JpqXx8cy04
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
Johansen took to Facebook to share the story of how he was able to get his ribbon to space. He credits a story written by Watermark and the help of Chris Garlington.
“Yes, Sir Richard Branson is wearing the Orlando Ribbon today and helping me achieve another goal of the Ribbon Project,” Johansen wrote. “When I announced that was my next goal, I didn’t think it would have much chance of happening. Then The Watermark did a story on the project and what my future plans for ribbons were. The article was read by a traveler from CA, and he read the story.
“Well, I received a call from [Garlington] this past Friday saying it might happen,” he continued. “He knows Sir Richard and talked with him personally. I sent an overnight package of ribbons to this person and from then it’s been a few weeks…..until Friday’s call. But today it’s happening.”
Read more:
He also shared the news via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/orlandoribbons/status/1414223833331081219
The Virgin Group founder said he hopes to continue to bring people to space and he told Forbes that an out transgender passenger is in the future.
“One day, I’m sure it will happen,” Branson said. “I’m looking forward to that.”
You can watch his flight with the ribbon below:
