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Gilbert Baker, Gay Activist Who Created the Rainbow Flag, Dies at 65 Gilbert Baker, Gay Activist Who Created the Rainbow Flag, Dies at 65
(about 4 hours later)
Gilbert Baker, the self-described “gay Betsy Ross” who in 1978 hand-dyed and stitched together eight strips of vibrantly colored fabric into a rainbow flag, instantly creating an enduring and inspiring international symbol of gay pride, has died. He was 65. Gilbert Baker, a self-described “gay Betsy Ross” who in 1978 hand-dyed and stitched together eight strips of vibrantly colored fabric into a rainbow flag, instantly creating an enduring international symbol of gay pride, was found dead on Friday at his home in New York City. He was 65.
Cleve Jones, a longtime advocate for gay rights who helped Mr. Baker dye the first rainbow flags, confirmed his death. Mr. Jones said Mr. Baker, who died in his sleep at home in New York City and was found Friday morning, had a stroke several years ago but had not been sick recently. Cleve Jones, a friend and gay rights advocate who confirmed the death, said Mr. Baker had a stroke several years ago but had not been sick recently.
In the 1970s, as the gay rights movement spread from San Francisco and New York City, Mr. Baker was often asked by friends aware of his creative talents to make banners for protests and marches. His creations, like others during that time, often included the pink triangle, which protesters had claimed as an icon after its initial use by the Nazis to identify gay men in concentration camps. As the gay rights movement spread from San Francisco and New York in the 1970s, Mr. Baker was often asked by friends aware of his creative talents to make banners for protests and marches. His creations, like others during that time, often included the pink triangle, which protesters had claimed as an icon after its initial use by the Nazis to identify gay men in concentration camps during World War II.
Before a gay pride parade in 1978 in San Francisco, Harvey Milk, a gay rights leader and a city supervisor who was assassinated that year, and others asked Mr. Baker to create an emblem to represent the movement, unite everyone and help them shed the notion that they were victims. Mr. Baker, with help from volunteers, filled trash cans with dye in the attic of the Gay Community Center in San Francisco and pieced together the first flags, unveiling them in the parade on June 25, 1978. Before a gay pride parade in 1978 in San Francisco, Harvey Milk, a city supervisor and gay rights leader who was assassinated that year, joined others in asking Mr. Baker to create an emblem to represent the movement.
“We stood there and watched and saw the flags, and their faces lit up,” Mr. Jones said in an interview on Friday about the reaction to the rainbow flag. “It needed no explanation. People knew immediately that it was our flag.” Mr. Baker, with help from volunteers, filled trash cans with dye in the attic of the Gay Community Center in San Francisco and pieced together the first flags, unveiling them in the parade on June 25, 1978.
The first flags had eight colors, each stripe carrying its own significance: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for peace and purple for spirit. Mr. Baker said he settled on making a flag after noticing the proliferation of American flags during the mid-1970s for the country’s bicentennial. “We stood there and watched and saw the flags, and their faces lit up,” Mr. Jones said in a phoneinterview on Friday. “It needed no explanation. People knew immediately that it was our flag.”
“A flag translates into everything, from tacky souvenirs to the names of organizations and the way that flags function,” he said in an interview in 2008. “I knew instantly when I saw the reaction that it was going to be something. I didn’t know what or how or — but I knew.” The first flags had eight colors, each stripe carrying its own significance: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for peace and purple for spirit.
“A flag translates into everything, from tacky souvenirs to the names of organizations and the way that flags function,” Mr. Baker said in an interview in 2008. “I knew instantly when I saw the reaction that it was going to be something. I didn’t know what or how or — but I knew.”
Since its introduction, the rainbow flag has become a universal symbol for inclusion, peace and love. It has been waved by gay rights supporters in China fighting for equality. It has been hung from apartment balconies as a sign of solidarity. After the United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015, more than 26 million people on Facebook changed their profile photos to include the flag.Since its introduction, the rainbow flag has become a universal symbol for inclusion, peace and love. It has been waved by gay rights supporters in China fighting for equality. It has been hung from apartment balconies as a sign of solidarity. After the United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015, more than 26 million people on Facebook changed their profile photos to include the flag.
The flag itself has changed since 1978, going to six colors from eight. Pink fabric was too expensive, Mr. Baker later said, so it was removed, and turquoise and blue were combined into one color, royal blue. The flag itself has changed since 1978, going to six colors from eight. Pink fabric was too expensive, Mr. Baker said, so it was removed, and turquoise and blue were combined into one color, royal blue.
Gilbert Baker was born June 2, 1951, in Chanute, Kan., a tiny rural town that was a stop on the Santa Fe Railway. His mother was a teacher and his father was a lawyer and a judge. He said he was outgoing growing up but always thought of himself as an outcast because he was gay. He said in the 2008 interview that he became attuned to his creativity. “That was my way out,” he said. Gilbert Baker was born on June 2, 1951, in Chanute, Kan., a tiny rural town that was a stop on the Santa Fe Railway. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a lawyer and a judge. Mr. Baker said he was outgoing growing up but had always thought of himself as an outcast because he was gay.
Information on survivors was not immediately available. Mr. Baker spent a year in college before he was drafted into the Army. He served as a medic and was eventually stationed in San Francisco, where he remained after leaving the Army in 1972.
Mr. Baker spent a year in college before he was drafted into the Army, where he served as a medic and was eventually stationed in San Francisco. After leaving the Army in 1972, he stayed in the city, which then was a center for the women’s rights and civil rights movements. It was also a time, after the police raid in 1969 on the Stonewall Inn in New York City, that more people started to come out as gay. Sn Francisco was then a center for the women’s rights and civil rights movements, and after the police raid in 1969 on the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, a gathering spot for gay New Yorkers, more people began coming out as gay.
“For me and, really, a whole generation of people, that was really a defining time,” Mr. Baker said in 2008.“For me and, really, a whole generation of people, that was really a defining time,” Mr. Baker said in 2008.
After the 1978 parade, Mr. Baker joined a flag company in San Francisco that supported his idea of mass producing his creation, but he later left for a career in art and design. However, he was always associated with the iconic flag, and even created rainbow flags for the recent ABC mini-series “When We Rise” about the gay rights movement. In recent weeks, he finished creating 39 nine-color flags — the eight original colors, plus lavender, which represented diversity — to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the rainbow flag. “He got up every day and made art,” Charley Beal, a friend who was the art director of the 2008 film “Milk,” about Mr. Milk, said in an interview. After the 1978 parade, Mr. Baker joined a flag company in San Francisco that supported his idea of mass-producing his creation, but he later left for a career in art and design. He was nevertheless always associated with the flag. He created rainbow flags for the recent ABC mini-series “When We Rise,” about the gay-rights movement.
In recent weeks he finished creating a 39 nine-color flag — the eight original colors plus lavender, representing diversity — to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the rainbow flag.
“He got up every day and made art,” Charley Beal, a friend who was the art director of the 2008 film “Milk,” about Mr. Milk, said in an interview.
Mr. Baker refused to apply for a trademark for his creation. “It was his gift to the world,” Mr. Jones said. “He told me when the flag first went up that he knew at that moment that it was his life’s work.”Mr. Baker refused to apply for a trademark for his creation. “It was his gift to the world,” Mr. Jones said. “He told me when the flag first went up that he knew at that moment that it was his life’s work.”