The two rainbow flags can be seen flying in the distance. “I actually saw a picture that showed a placard saying it was a replica,” Beswick said, comparing it to historical reproductions used in films like Milk or When We Rise.Ī view from the stage in front of San Francisco City Hall at the 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade. When Charley Beal, president of the Gilbert Baker Foundation, contacted Baker’s sister on the eve of Stonewall’s 50th anniversary, she passed along the flag and marchers carried it at New York Pride in 2019, all unaware of its history. Upon his death in 2017, friends cleared out Baker’s apartment and shipped most of his effects to a sister in Texas, with some memorabilia sent to the GLBT Historical Society. Baker, Beswick adds, took the flag with him when he moved to New York in 1994 to execute a mile-long flag exhibit for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Its brief prominence in San Francisco is all the more poignant considering that 1978 was the only year that supervisor Harvey Milk marched in the parade he would be assassinated five months later. The remnant we have now, it’s about 28 ft along the hoist and 10 to 12 ft of the fly – still quite large and beautiful.” Gilbert went back to retrieve them and took this one and cut off the damaged portion. It sustained water damage and it had mildew on it.
“Who knows, maybe it’ll turn up someday,” Beswick said. Measuring 60 ft by 30 ft, the two flags – one with stripes in the style of the American flag, and this one without – were later displayed and stored at a now-shuttered LGBTQ+ community center, where one was stolen. Photograph: Mark Rennie/Courtesy of the Gilbert Baker Foundation The Museum of Modern Art acquired his original for its design collection in 2015.The two original eight-color rainbow flags flying at United Nations Plaza in 1978 during San Francisco Gay Freedom Day. Today, the rainbow flag we see most often shows just six stripes because hot pink proved too expensive for mass production, and Baker decided to combine turquoise and blue into one royal blue. His chosen colors symbolized, respectively, sexuality, life, healing, the sun, nature, art, harmony, and spirit. This new flag actually has the same number of stripes as Baker’s original flag, which featured hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo/blue, and violet. For those who support Philadelphia’s inclusive new version and want to display it in some form, #MoreColorMorePride has downloadable images of it so you can make posters, shirts, and even pins. (It’s worth pointing out that many of these dissenters appear to be white men.) Pride flags have actually featured an appended, symbolic stripe in the past, as Amanda Kerri writes for The Advocate: many flew with a black stripe at the height of the AIDS epidemic, to represent those in the community lost to the disease. The city raised the new flag last week at City Hall, but while many have welcomed and celebrated its presence, others have criticized the design for politicizing the iconic symbol, with some even sharing their thoughts on social media with the hashtag #NotMyFlag. The owners and staff of 11 businesses were subsequently required to undergo training in anti-discrimination laws. Bars in particular contribute to the problem, the report states, as most are owned by white, cisgendered, males who create environments that cater to those who identify similarly. The city has struggled to deal with racism and discrimination in its Gayborhood district that have been ongoing problems for decades: earlier this year, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Rights published a lengthy report on how LGBTQ people of color, women, and transgender individuals “often feel unwelcome and unsafe” in the Center City neighborhood.
The effort is intended to address diversity issues in the global LGBTQ community, but the gesture carries a particular significance in Philadelphia. A flyer for the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs’ #MoreColorMorePride campaign