In 2003, Baker and his Key West project were the subject of Rainbow Pride, a feature-length documentary by Marie Jo Ferron, bought by PBS National and debuting in New York on WNET. Legacy įrench memorial to Gilbert Baker, Place des Émeutes-de-Stonewall in Le Marais district of Paris. Upon Baker's death, California state senator Scott Wiener said Baker "helped define the modern LGBT movement". The New York City medical examiner's office determined cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. īaker died at home in his sleep on Maat age 65, in New York City. Due to his creation of the rainbow flag, Baker often used the drag queen name "Busty Ross", alluding to Betsy Ross. After the commemoration, he sent sections of this flag to more than 100 cities around the world. In 2003, to commemorate the Rainbow Flag's 25th anniversary, Baker created a Rainbow Flag that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean in Key West.
That year he created the world's largest flag (at that time) in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots. Here, he continued his creative work and activism. In 1994, Baker moved to New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1984, he designed flags for the Democratic National Convention. He also designed creations for numerous civic events and San Francisco Gay Pride. Baker designed displays for Dianne Feinstein, the Premier of China, the presidents of France, Venezuela, and the Philippines, the King of Spain, and many others. In 1979, Baker began work at Paramount Flag Company in San Francisco, then located on the southwest corner of Polk Street and Post Street in the Polk Gulch neighborhood. He refused to trademark it, seeing it as a symbol that was for the LGBT community. He also joined the gay drag activist group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence stating, "At first it was glamorous and political, but when the Sisters became more organized, I became a tool of the right wing and raised money for Jerry Falwell", referring to video and images of the group that were used for right-wing Christian efforts, "so I stopped." īaker first created the Rainbow Flag with a collective in 1978. It was during this time that he met and became friends with Harvey Milk. He used his skill to create banners for gay-rights and anti-war protest marches. After his honorable discharge from the military, he worked on the first marijuana legalization initiative California Proposition 19 (1972), and was taught to sew by his fellow activist Mary Dunn. He was stationed as a medic in San Francisco at the beginning of the gay rights movement, and lived there as an openly gay man. īaker served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972.
His father was a judge and his mother was a teacher.
He grew up in Parsons, Kansas, where his grandmother owned a women's clothing store. So, put down your phone and follow this advice and you, too, could take that hot guy home from the bar.Baker was born on June 2, 1951, in Chanute, Kansas. Well, the answer should be YOU you should have the time because this historic method to hook up is way more thrilling and rewarding than a few taps on your smartphone while you lounge on your couch watching old episodes of Drag Race. It’s easy to drop a pin at your location and wait for a guy to come over, right? Who’s got the time and money to drop $14 on a vodka soda and perch yourself in a bar while you attempt to make eyes at anyone you can? Not only are gay bars and clubs in crisis, closing left, right, and center, but the art of hooking up has diminished. In my mind, everyone would be eye-fucking each other until, with the nod of a head, you’d be off with someone and go and get head (see what I did there?).Īdmittedly, before the advent of hookup apps, when I was a baby gay first on the scene, things were a little like that, just without the great lighting, flattering camera angles, and it wasn’t being broadcast on Showtime. Perhaps watching Queer as Folk when I was a young and impressionable teenager wasn’t the best gauge of accuracy for how venturing out onto the gay scene would be.