As opposed to later versions of the rainbow pride flag, the first flag had eight colors, which had the following meaning:Īfter Harvey Milk was assassinated in 1978, demand for Baker’s flag increased. It was first showcased on San Francisco’s Gay Pride Day on June 25, 1978. The colors of the flag are roughly sequenced in the same order as those displayed in a rainbow. Since the LGBTQ community consists of people from all races, genders, and ages, he based his flag on the rainbow. Baker was inspired in his design by the celebrations for America’s bicentennial anniversary in 1976. It was designed by gay artist and activist Gilbert Baker when his friend Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay elected official in California, asked him to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community. The Gilbert Baker Pride Flag was the first-ever rainbow pride flag.
These flags provide representation for the individual LGBTQ communities and also tell us a bit about their unique stories, perspectives, histories, and experiences. However, within the LGBTQ group, there’s a wide variety of subcultures, genders, and identities, who all have their own flags. Change is happening.The rainbow pride flag is widely recognized as the symbol of the LGBTQ community. I held her tight, and my feeling was, we are moving forward. “We stood along with all the cheering crowd, off to the side, mind you, so no one would see us, with security surrounding us, and we tried to have our tender mother-daughter moment, but we just took it in. “It was beautiful,” she told the openly gay host. Obama recounted the story Thursday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Hodges, the White House was lit up in rainbow colors. “Malia and I leaned into each other, happy to have found our way there.”Ī day after the court’s ruling in the landmark Obergefell v.
We were outside, standing on a patch of lawn off to one side, out of sight of the public but with a beautiful, close-up view of the White House, lit up in pride,” she added. “It had taken us 10 minutes to get out of our own home, but we’d done it. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015, after determining that a ban violated the Constitution, per NBC News. And there it was, the hum of the public, people whooping and celebrating outside the iron gates.” I could see fireflies blinking on the lawn. “Malia and I just busted past the agents on duty, neither one of us making eye contact. “We made our way down a marble staircase and over red carpets, around the busts of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and past the kitchen until suddenly we were outdoors,” wrote the EBONY Power 100 Entertainment & Arts honoree. 2019 EBONY cover star wrote in her bestselling memoir Becoming that her and then-16-year-old daughter Malia Obama wanted to enjoy the fun that was happening outside their home. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Emailįormer first lady Michelle Obama revealed that when same-sex marriage became legal in the U.S., she snuck out of the White House to celebrate, writes NBC News.