Brody's Notes... Neighborhood Association & Gay Community Activists Square Off Over Display Of Rainbow Flag

The Castro  Photo by Cammie Toloui

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) DEC 20 | Gay community activists in San Francisco's The Castro neighborhood are outraged by a statement released this past Friday by the Mission Delores Neighborhood Association spokesman Joe Cain to the Associated Press, calling for removal of the Rainbow flags that are hung from the light posts in the Castro.

The Association's Board of Directors contend that the rainbow gay pride flags that have flown for years along the main stretches of San Francisco's Castro District, were illegally hung on the metal lamp posts. SF City law only allows temporary banners on the posts, which were designated city landmarks in 1991, out of concerns the fasteners used to attach them could rust and mar their beauty.

A spokesman for San Francisco's GLBT Historical Society says that assertion is not true. The flags, originally designed by San Franciscans Gilbert Baker and Jomar Teng for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, and which debuted on June 25, 1978, have hung in The Castro for over thirty years. He noted that when, in 1979 the flag was modified, the principal reason was that when the flags were hung vertically from the lamp posts along San Francisco's Market Street in the Castro, the center stripe was obscured by the post itself. Changing the flag design to one with an even number of stripes was the easiest way to rectify this, so the turquoise stripe was dropped, which resulted in a six stripe version of the flag - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. This is the version that is most universally recognised today.

Openly Gay San Francisco District 8 City Supervisor, Bevan Dufty, whose district includes the area served by the Mission Delores Neighborhood Association as well as the Castro, is calling for a compromise. Duffy who is term limited, is pushing for legislation to be passed before he leaves office, designed to save the banners while keeping the lamp posts safe. The city's Historic Preservation Commission issued a decision backing the plan this past week and the city's Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the changes next month.
Association spokesman Cain points out that the Association's position is that the banners simply don't belong on the posts permanently. Dufty disagrees saying:

"This is where the rainbow flag started. This is a neighborhood that should be identified as one of the strongest and most vibrant gay and lesbian neighborhoods in the world."

Cain told the AP:

"We completely support the diversity in the area- this is about preserving a city landmark from permanent signage."

"I feel there is a balance between historic preservation and the historical context of the neighborhood," Dufty said. 

The pride flag banners in The Castro define the neighborhood and are slowly being lost as they become tattered and can't be replaced. According to city officials, only about a quarter of the 40 or so of the original banners remain.
Should the Board of Supervisors pass the measure, it  would allow banners that distinguish a neighborhood, the rainbow banners included, to remain on the lamp posts permanently as long as their fasteners do not cause damage. The installation would also be periodically reviewed by city officials.
Cain says that the Mission Delores Neighborhood Association supports the ordinance as it was amended. Still, he notes, the banners will set a bad precedent for other groups looking to put up permanent signs on the lamp posts in the City's historic preservation areas.