Today we are kicking off Pride Month by honoring the late, great, Gilbert Baker.
All of the above photos were included in the book Rainbow Warrior.
I slowly made my way through this book as I needed frequent breaks due to some of the content. As I processed these amazing moments in history, it made me sad. We’ve come a lot further since the creation of the first rainbow flag in 1978– yet in some ways its as if nothing much has really changed at all.
Gilbert fought Political and Religious wars for Gay rights his entire life. He spoke up when others remained silent. And he kept moving forward for the cause, though his heartache from all of those he lost had to be physically draining. To be anyone in the GLBT community during the AIDS epidemic and the war on gays during a couple decades there would have been equally sad and scary af! Could you imagine having a friend during that time just disappear? Only to find out later they died from gay cancer and their family quietly packed up their things and had them buried without any sort of thought going out to the friends who certainly would have wanted to pay their respects.
Gilbert’s story made me smile and laugh while also breaking my heart. I don’t know if it hit me harder because I am a lesbian. Putting myself in their shoes is scary. There were some brave men and women who fought hard for the rights my wife and I have today. Some paid with their lives. I choose to honor those wonderful humans throughout the month of June.
To give you an idea of just how MASSIVE the mile long rainbow flag, created in memory of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, here are some specs mentioned in the book…
- 150,000 square feet
- 7000 pounds
- 1 mile long
- would take 2500 people (at minimum) to carry
A one mile long strip of 6 different colors that then had to be sewn together to create a rainbow. This Queen had a big ol bright colorful dream she brought to fruition with the help of a whole lot of gays and their ally’s. Oh to be present during such a memorable moment in history.
I wanted to use Gilbert to kick off Pride Month because without the Gay Betsy Ross, would we even have a pride Month to celebrate? Stay tuned the rest of the month, all the odd days in June. Each day we will have a Q&A with an author who writes books with LGBTQIA characters. You won’t want to miss it!
Gilbert Baker was the creator of the Rainbow Pride Flag and the meaning of each color. In 1978 Gilbert began creating the first rainbow flag for the San Francisco Liberation Day Parade. THEN in 1994 he wanted to make a mile long rainbow flag to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Stonewall. Yes, you read that right. 1 mile long. This book follows Gilbert on his journey through life. He was often depressed and never saw his worth. Then again he was a feminine-ish gay man living in a really messed up time in history. Gilbert is one of the forefathers of the gay rights movement. If not for humans like him, would gays even be allowed to marry today? Men like Gilbert, Harvey Milk, and a slew of others paved the way for us modern day gays. I will forever be grateful for them and will remember them as Pride Month approaches.
I listened to the audio book and it is read by one of Gilbert’s good friends, Graham Halstead. He put this book together after Gilbert passed using Gilbert’s notes and journals.