Gilbert Baker, whose rabow flag flew over the rise of gay rights, di at 65 - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• GAY RIGHTS
• GAY PRI
• THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT
• GILBERT BAKER, WHOSE RABOW FLAG FLEW OVER THE RISE OF GAY RIGHTS, DI AT 65

GAY RIGHTS

In April 2021, the GLBT Historil Society received an archival donatn of an extraordary, unique piece of history that we are unveilg durg the Pri season: a agment of one of the two monumental rabow flags first raised on June 25, 1978 San Francis’s Uned Natns Plaza at the San Francis Gay Freedom Day Para.

In 1978, while preparg for that year’s Gay Freedom Day celebratn, Cy Supervisor Harvey Milk (1930–1978) and other lol activists appealed to Baker, the -chair of the Deratns Commtee, to create a new symbol for the LGBTQ muny to be unveiled at the event June.

Banner photo: This segment om one of the two origal rabow flags created for San Francis Gay Freedom Day 1978 was donated to the GLBT Historil Society April 2021; photograph by Matthew Leifhe, urty of the Gilbert Baker Foundatn. ”“Wh all of the black and brown activism that’s worked to addrs racism the Gayborhood over the past year, I thk the new flag is a great step for the cy to show the world that they’re workg toward fully supportg all members of our muny, ” the statement ntued.

GAY PRI

Bear pri flagThe bear pri flag celebrat a subculture of the LGBTQ muny that refers to gay or bisexual men who have facial and/or body hair and embrace fortably wh masculy and their bodi, acrdg to Montclair State Universy. While a rerd high 71 percent of Amerins last year said they believed gay and lbian relatns were morally acceptable, that fell to 64 percent this year Gallup’s most recent Valu and Beliefs poll released June. Last month, his mpaign released a vio that cricized former Print Donald Tmp for his earlier ments on gay rights and Pri Month, llg him “the polician who did more than any other Republin to celebrate .

The Bin admistratn also plans to make the monument larger stature next year, when NPS opens a new visor center that will be the first of s kd the Uned Stat voted exclively to the gay rights movement.

In late June, the Castro Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer Cultural District (CQCD) San Francis voted to remend to the Castro Merchants, the bs associatn that has jurisdictn over the flagpol, that replace the origal Pri flag Harvey Milk Plaza wh a new versn of the flag that’s more clive of Black, brown, and transgenr members of the LGBTQ muny. “[I]t was mostly low-e street queens, aga many of them Black and brown, who fought the ps the streets outsi the Stonewall Inn three years later, ” they ntued, addg that most Whe lbian and gay activists at the time nmned any type of fightg back agast police favor of a more “rpectable” image. The problem wh creatg this kd of hierarchy of rpectabily is that empowers the most privileged gay and lbian people at the expense of members of the queer muny who are still seen as ‘viant, ’ like trans people.

THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT

In a world which stunts are expelled for handg out Pri flags to prott Florida's "Don't Say Gay Bill, " the need to show support for LGTBQ+ rights—publicly as well as privately—is as important as ever. Tradnal Gay Pri Flag (Image cred: Getty Imag/Norberto Cuen)This is probably the flag you'll see most often: Six lors, apparently easier to produce than the odd-numbered seven (although other reports say was more about makg the flag easier for paras and to hang on posts).

But the "leather flag, " created by Tony DeBlase 1989, is a symbol of that muny (which clus many gay men)—black may symbolize leather, whe is pury, blue is votn, and the heart is Brotherhood Flag(Image cred: Getty Imag/grebhkovmaxim)Craig Byrn and Pl Wzkoske 1995 ma the "bear flag" for "a subculture of mascule-prentg gay, bisexual and trans men who embrace facial and body hair and may have larger bodi. Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group ’s small group published a few issu of s newsletter “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter. Ernment signated Gerber’s Chigo hoe a Natnal Historic Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT

Addnally, 1948, his book Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey proposed that male sexual orientatn li on a ntuum between exclively homosexual to exclively Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group. ”Though started off small, the foundatn, which sought to improve the liv of gay men through discsn groups and related activi, expand after foundg member Dale Jenngs was arrted 1952 for solicatn and then later set ee due to a adlocked the end of the year, Jenngs formed another anizatn lled One, Inc., which weled women and published ONE, the untry’s first pro-gay magaze. Post Office, which 1954 clared the magaze “obscene” and refed to liver Mattache Society Mattache Foundatn members rtctured the anizatn to form the Mattache Society, which had lol chapters other parts of the untry and 1955 began publishg the untry’s send gay publitn, The Mattache Review.

That same year, four lbian upl San Francis found an anizatn lled the Dghters of Bilis, which soon began publishg a newsletter lled The Ladr, the first lbian publitn of any early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr followg year, Print Dwight D.

GILBERT BAKER, WHOSE RABOW FLAG FLEW OVER THE RISE OF GAY RIGHTS, DI AT 65

In 1961, Illois beme the first state to do away wh s anti-sodomy laws, effectively crimalizg homosexualy, and a lol TV statn California aired the first documentary about homosexualy, lled The 1965, Dr. ”In fear of beg shut down by thori, bartenrs would ny drks to patrons spected of beg gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drks but force them to s facg away om other ctomers to prevent them om 1966, members of the Mattache Society New York Cy staged a “sip-”—a twist on the “s-” protts of the 1960s— which they vised taverns, clared themselv gay, and waed to be turned away so they uld sue. They were nied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Juli, rultg much publicy and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor Stonewall Inn A few years later, 1969, a now-famo event talyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall clanste gay club Stonewall Inn was an stutn Greenwich Village bee was large, cheap, allowed dancg and weled drag queens and homels the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn.

" This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad. 1 / 12: NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagChristopher Street Liberatn Day Shortly after the Stonewall uprisg, members of the Mattache Society spl off to form the Gay Liberatn Front, a radil group that lnched public monstratns, protts and nontatns wh polil officials.

Siar groups followed, cludg the Gay Activists Alliance, Radilbians, and Street Transvt Actn Revolutnari (STAR) 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, New York Cy muny members marched through lol streets memoratn of the event. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pk Triangle to a symbol of gay Polil Victori The creased visibily and activism of LGBTQ dividuals the 1970s helped the movement make progrs on multiple onts. Addnally, several openly LGBTQ dividuals secured public office posns: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, Cy Council 1974, beg the first out Amerin to be elected to public Milk, who mpaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, beme the San Francis cy supervisor 1978, beg the first openly gay man elected to a polil office asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that reprents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pri.

Baker signed and stched together the first rabow flag, which he unveiled at a pri para followg year, 1979, more than 100, 000 people took part the first Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights.