An action that says we as members of the LGBT community are here. As we raise our flags, sport our t-shirts, affix the rainbow bandanna on our dogs, know we do so as an action. That it is more than just cloth and stripes as Baker says but “an action.” Take time to honor the late Gilbert Baker as well each time you look at those colors. It is comforting to know even then, for that scared closeted kid in Texas, the flag was meant for me.Īs we enter the month of June, Pride Month, take time to recognize what this symbol means. That the flag represents “all of the colors…even the ones you can’t see.” I was that unseen color growing up, out of fear and denial I hid and tried to hide in the shadows. So that fit us as a people because we are all of the colors.”Īs I think of the flag now as an out and proud queer transgender man, I realize that despite the fear I had of the flag growing up, it was still my flag. “The rainbow is a beautiful part of nature, all of the colors, and even the one’s you can’t see. When asked why the colors of the rainbow, Baker had this to say: Baker’s vision was that the rainbow flag would serve as a beacon of hope and joy within the community not stemming from tragedy but from life and pride. Before the rainbow flag, our community really only had the reclaimed pink triangle used by the Nazis, used to identify gay prisoners. Commissioned by the pride parade, Baker was asked to create a new symbol for the LGBT community to be used for years to come. The pan flag itself is less widely known than the classic rainbow and bi flags, but its vibrant pink, yellow, and blue are instantly recognizable once you’ve seen them. The pride flag first debuted in 1978 at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade. Many people identify as bisexual and/or pansexual, and feel represented by either term. It wasn’t until I read an interview with creator Gilbert Baker, who passed away in May of this year, speaking about his flag that I began to have a better understanding. I knew it had a deeper meaning than ending up on drink koozies and dog collars, but I wasn’t expecting it to be something that would resonate with me.
Baker decided to make that symbol a flag because he saw. Baker later revealed that he was urged by Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., to create a symbol of pride for the gay community.
To be honest I didn’t know much about the history of the flag until I was asked to write this post. It goes back to 1978, when the artist Gilbert Baker, an openly gay man and a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. The rainbow flag, known as the pride flag, seemed dangerous to a kid just trying to fall under the radar. That it would indicate to the world that I was all of the things I was trying so desperately not to be. That if I wore or owned anything resembling a rainbow I was in danger of being discovered. Therefore, the rainbow flag felt like a threat. When I reached middle school I realized something was different about me. Rainbows have a tendency to do the opposite of that. Growing up biracial, queer, and a child of an immigrant in the heart of Texas, I attempted my very best to blend in. Having only seen it mass produced and put on everything from t-shirts to coffee cups, by the time I came to understand that rainbow flag represented the LGBT community I tried my best to avoid it. Using color to establish meaning, Baker conceived a flag that would empower his “tribe” and a “rainbow of humanity” motif to represent the community’s diversity.I never cared for the rainbow flag. In 1978, while preparing for that year’s Gay Freedom Day celebration, City Supervisor Harvey Milk (1930–1978) and other local activists appealed to Baker, the co-chair of the Decorations Committee, to create a new symbol for the LGBTQ community to be unveiled at the event in June. He quickly became well known for his sewing skills and flamboyant creations, such as drag costumes and political banners for street demonstrations. Gilbert Baker arrived in San Francisco in 1972 during the early years of the Gay Liberation movement. Thought to have been lost for over 40 years, the fragment, shown in the banner above, was recently rediscovered and is the only known surviving remnant of the two inaugural rainbow flags. In April 2021, the GLBT Historical Society received an archival donation of an extraordinary, unique piece of history that we are unveiling during the Pride season: a fragment of one of the two monumental rainbow flags first raised on Jin San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.ĭisplaying the original design’s eight colored stripes, it was created by Gilbert Baker and hand-stitched and dyed with the help of volunteers and friends, including Lynn Segerblom (Faerie Argyle Rainbow), James McNamara, Glenne McElhinney, Joe Duran and Paul Langlotz.