Supports replacing Castro flag
Speaking as a cis white male longtime member of the San Francisco LGBTQ+ community, I support replacing the rainbow flag in the Castro, Gilbert Baker's second rainbow flag, with the Progress flag. We need to recognize all parts of our community.
Note that I said "second flag." As some of you know, the six-stripe rainbow flag isn't Baker's original rainbow flag — that one had eight stripes [and he co-created it with two other people]. If Baker could drop two stripes for cost and manufacturing considerations, I have a hard time imagining him objecting to adding a new five-color chevron for social justice. Not that if Baker, were he alive, objected would it derail the rightness of this proposal.
Let the Progress flag welcome all to our Castro!
Chas Belov
San Francisco
Flag fatigue
The frenzy of discussion about the flagpole at Harvey Milk Plaza and what flag(s) can be raised, coming from organizations on both coasts and various San Francisco groups, entitled individuals, and foundations, has worn me out. Gilbert Baker made no claims to profit from ownership or protection of his work and intellectual property during his lifetime and gave the flag symbol to the world with love and without restriction. How dare anyone invoke his name and dictate what he would have wanted in the contemporary scene. Imagine an equivalent Betsy Ross Foundation that advocates flying only her original 13-star design, the intervening events of a couple of hundred years be damned. A variety of flags have evolved in our expanding community to express hopes for equality by many sectors, and they should all be on display. Add more flagpoles, alternate what flags are flown based upon seasonal events, memorial commemorations, or whatever will increase visibility for everyone's cherished symbols, and stop telling me what the hell Baker wants from the great beyond.
Michael E. Merrigan
San Francisco
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