Gilbert Baker, artist and activist, designed the iconic LGBT symbol banner
GAYLES.TV | Gilbert Baker, artist and activist creator of the iconic flag of the LGBT community, died Thursday night, at the 65 years, while he slept at his home in New York City.
He was born in 1951 in Kansas and served in the army between 1970 and 1972, which took him to San Francisco when the gay liberation movement was starting to take shape. After graduating, Baker settled in the California city and learned to sew flags and had the idea of creating the first rainbow flag as a symbol to unite the LGBT community of San Francisco.
"I decided that we should have a flag, that a flag would fit us as a symbol, that we are a people, a tribe if they want it," Baker said at MOMA in 2015. "A flag fulfilled that mission because it is a way of proclaiming your visibility, or saying, 'This is me!'
The first time the rainbow was used as a gay emblem was in 1978, in the Gay Freedom Day Parade as a flag of eight colors, each color represents a meaning: sexuality (pink), life (red), health (orange ), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), art (turquoise), harmony (dark blue) and the human spirit (violet). The flag was finally reduced to six colors due to the lack of availability of pink and turquoise fabrics.
Just five months after the flag's debut, the murder of Harvey MilkIn San Francisco, he promoted the rainbow pride flag as a symbol of the union of the LGBT community.
"Harvey Milk was a friend of mine, the very important gay leader in San Francisco in the '70s, and he carried the message about the importance of visibility, and that was the most important thing we had to do," Baker said at MoMA. »I decided that we should have a flag, that a flag would fit us as a symbol, that we are a people, a tribe if they want to. Our job as gay people was to get out, be visible, live in the truth, get out of the lie. “A flag fulfilled that mission because it is a way of proclaiming your visibility, or of saying: 'This is me!'
To honor Baker, the San Francisco City Council has hung the rainbow flag at half-staff. “Gilbert was a pioneer of LGBT rights, a powerful artist, and a true friend to all who knew him. Our thoughts are with his friends and family. "
