A Proud Acquisition in a Lavender Carry-On

by Terry Beswick

I knew I should probably wear white gloves, like the archivists do with fragile materials. But as I sat in a San Francisco apartment in early May with two of my closest friends, a lavender-colored carry-on suitcase between us, I couldn’t resist. Early the next morning I would be turning it over to the archivists. I unzipped the case to sneak my friends a peek.

The previous day in Times Square, with expert bargaining assistance from my friend and New Yorker Charley Beal, I’d picked out the suitcase especially for this object. I told him it had to be purple or pink or something just a little bit fabulous to carry this very queer piece of history from New York to San Francisco. Luckily, we found a perfect lavender tote, and after a late lunch of Chinese, took a cab back to his West Village apartment.

As he again recounted the story of how the artifact had been found and authenticated, Charley pulled a large clear bin down from the top shelf of his hall closet, filled to the brim with its colorful contents. Together, we carefully transferred it into the special case. And after sharing a few more stories, imbued with a profound sense of history, off I went, amid a flurry of hugs and promises to be careful and not check the bag at the airport. Early the next morning, I was on my way to San Francisco – with the original, first-ever rainbow flag from 1978.

A Coveted Donation 

This coveted donation to the collection of the GLBT Historical Society had only been finalized a few weeks earlier, after months of back-and-forth negotiation. Plenty of institutions would have loved to receive it. But the GLBT Historical Society already holds two Gilbert Baker collections, one donated by Baker himself during his lifetime, and the other acquired following his death in 2017. With the help of collaborators, Baker had created this seminal artwork—arguably his greatest, timeless creation—in San Francisco. And so it was decided that it must return to the city of its birth.

Even in death, Gilbert Baker could not have had a better and more loyal friend than Charley Beal. With support from his husband Vincent Guzzone and others, Beal, an art director for television and film productions (including Dustin Lance Black’s 2008 film Milk), had overseen Gilbert’s estate, co-founded the Gilbert Baker Foundation and  posthumously published Gilbert’s memoirs. Now he was facilitating the transfer of this priceless artifact to the GLBT Historical Society.

As I opened the case at my friend’s apartment in San Francisco, I conveyed the stories of how the flag had been thought lost for over 40 years, and how its authenticity had been verified. Of the two original 30-feet-high by 60-feet-wide flags that flew over San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza for the Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1978, one had been stolen and the other had been severely damaged by mildew and water stains. Gilbert had preserved it by cutting away two-thirds of the fly, leaving a segment with just ten feet remaining of the original fly. But it’s still huge and fabulous, and includes all eight of the original stripes.

 A Universally Recognized Symbol

My friends and I held it in our hands, the original hand-dyed-and-sewn creation whose design has since become an almost universally recognized symbol of an infinitely diverse and inclusive civil rights movement. And it has propelled that movement forward in countless ways, proudly identifying places and people that celebrate the full spectrum of sexual and gender differences among all races and ethnicities, and spawning innumerable variations.

Perhaps no one could have imagined in 1978 the eventual impact of this first flag. And perhaps it would not have had the impact it did without Baker’s tireless efforts to promote the symbol all over the world, work that the Gilbert Baker Foundation continues today. But what an impact it has had, and how precious this history.

We were awed in that moment, and filled with pride. And then I packed it back into the lavender case.

Terry Beswick is the executive director of the GLBT Historical Society. He spearheaded a successful campaign to preserve the Castro Country Club for the queer recovery community in San Francisco, co-founded the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and co-chaired the LGBTQ Cultural Heritage Strategy.