Wed. June 18, 2003
Key West, Florida -
It went on, and on, and on, stretching for as far as the eye could see, the largest Rainbow flag ever envisioned. For a mile and a quarter it fluttered along Duval Street as 2,000 people strained to keep it from flying away.
All stretched out along Key West's prime gay road the flag spanned the slip of land from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, and there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd of thousands lining the street to mark the historic occasion.
The massive flag, specially made by Rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker to mark the 25th anniversary of the first Rainbow flag, took three months to stitch together. Dozens of volunteers took turns at the sewing machines working on more than 17,600 linear yards of fabric. When it was finished the flag weighed more than three tons.
Baker left his home in San Francisco to oversee the making of the monster flag in Key West. It's appearance Sunday marked the conclusion of Key West's Pridefest.
"My dream is a reality today," said Baker who created the original Rainbow flag in 1978. Today, he's known as the Gay Betsy Ross.
"The rainbow flag is loved and cherished all over the world. It represents an idea of equality and justice for everyone."
Among the volunteer handlers of the massive flag was Nancy Mathys. Although blind she wanted to be part of today's unfurling of the flag. Guided by a friend she took her place among the flag carriers.
But, it isn't just the size of the flag that made history Sunday. The flag added two more colors, making it identical to Baker's original design and the first time all eight colors have been flown. Back in 1978, Baker had to drop two colors: pink and turquoise because they could not accurately be reproduced commercially.
Fabric coloring techniques have advanced over the past 25 years and now the pink and turquoise join the traditional red, orange, yellow, green, indigo and violet.
The massive flag will now be divided up and will make appearances at Pride celebrations in more than 100 cities around the world including Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Berlin, Seattle, San Francisco, London, Cleveland, Detroit and Toronto.
by Fidel Ortega
365Gay.com Newscenter
Miami Bureau
©365Gay.com® 2003
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