A Legacy of Pride: Gilbert Baker and the 40th Anniversary of the Rainbow Flag

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Charles Schuler
Director of Marketing & Communications
San Francisco International Airport
650.821.5031
Charles.Schuler@flysfo.com
SF-18-21

A Legacy of Pride: Gilbert Baker and the 40th Anniversary of the Rainbow Flag
New exhibition illustrates the San Francisco origins of the internationally recognized symbol of pride for the LGBTQ community

SAN FRANCISCO - April 12, 2018 - Shortly after the United States Supreme Court ruling on June 26, 2015, that guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry, the rainbow flag was unfurled from apartment balconies, attached to car windows, and appeared in the background for tens of millions of newly changed profile photos on social media accounts.  This universally recognized symbol of pride and solidarity was introduced nearly forty years earlier at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade.

Gilbert Baker arrived in San Francisco in 1972 during the early years of the gay liberation movement.  With sewing skills learned from crafting his own drag costumes, he was often asked to make political banners for street demonstrations.  In the months leading up to the 1978 Gay Freedom Day celebration in San Francisco, City Supervisor and gay rights leader Harvey Milk and other local activists implored Baker to create a new symbol for the movement.  Baker seized on the idea of a flag as an appropriate symbol to proclaim power for his “tribe,” and a rainbow to represent his community’s diversity.

Over the next four decades, Baker worked tirelessly to ensure the rainbow flag would become a powerful and enduring symbol of pride and inclusion that transcends languages and borders, gender and race, and now, four decades after its creation, generations.  After suffering a stroke in 2012, Baker retaught himself how to sew, continued to make art every day, and witnessed the full appreciation of the symbol he created.  One of Baker’s final creations before his death in 2017 is on exhibit here—the flag he made for the ABC television miniseries When We Rise, based on the memoirs of his longtime friend, LGBTQ activist Cleve Jones.  Jones recalls that when the rainbow flag was first unfurled in 1978, Gilbert “knew at that moment that it was his life’s work,” and refers to Baker’s creation as “his gift to the world.”

Special thanks to Tom Taylor, Cleve Jones, and Charley Beal for sharing memories of their dear friend Gilbert Baker; to photographer Mick Hicks for providing historic images; and to the GLBT Historical Society for their generous assistance with this exhibition. For more information about Gilbert Baker and the history of the LGBTQ community, visit the GLBT History Museum at 4127 18th Street in San Francisco, or make an appointment to visit the GLBT Historical Society Archives & Research Center at info@glbthistory.org.

Visit https://www.flysfo.com/museum/exhibitions/legacy-pride for more information.

#RainbowFlag
@SFOMuseum

A Legacy of Pride: Gilbert Baker and the 40th Anniversary of the Rainbow Flag is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby, San Francisco International Airport.  This exhibition is on view to all Airport visitors from April 14, 2018 to January 06, 2019.  There is no charge to view the exhibition.

SFO Museum

SFO Museum was established by the Airport Commission in 1980 for the purposes of humanizing the Airport environment, providing visibility for the unique cultural life of San Francisco, and presenting educational services for the traveling public.  The Museum was granted initial accreditation from the American Association of Museums in 1999, reaccredited in 2005, and has the distinction of being the only accredited museum in an airport.  Today, SFO Museum features approximately twenty galleries throughout the Airport terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions, as well as the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, a permanent collection dedicated to the history of commercial aviation.  To browse current and past exhibitions, research our collection, or for more information, please visit www.flysfo.com/museum. Follow us on www.facebook.com/SFOMuseum, www.twitter.com/SFOMuseum, or www.instagram.com/SFOMuseum.

About San Francisco International Airport

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop flights to more than 44 international cities on 41 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 79 cities in the U.S. on 15 domestic airlines.  SFO is proud to offer upgraded free Wi-Fi with no advertising.  For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow us on www.twitter.com/flysfo and  www.facebook.com/flysfo.