Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, June 6, 2003
Ray Delgado, Chronicle Staff Writer
Take a closer look, however, and you notice the bullet holes and bloodstains and realize that you're staring at the clothes that former San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk wore when he was assassinated nearly 25 years ago.
The suit is the focal point of the exhibition, "Saint Harvey -- The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Gay Martyr." It opens today at the gay history museum's new downtown headquarters, one of two prominent gay history exhibitions that have opened in San Francisco to coincide with Gay Pride Month.
The other exhibition, "Unfurling Pride," is a history of the rainbow flag's gay symbol status. It opened May 17 for a two-month run at two locations: the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center of the San Francisco Public Library and the Yvette Flunder Historical Gallery of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of San Francisco.
Rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker gathered with AIDS quilt creator Cleve Jones on Sunday at the community center to discuss the importance of the rainbow flag and the AIDS quilt within the gay community.
San Francisco author Phyllis Burke has been conducting research on both symbols and had the audience laughing and crying with a tribute to Baker and Jones for their work to carry on Milk's legacy. Burke presented Jones with Milk's bullhorn that he frequently used for public demonstrations and protests.
"Cleve and Gilbert have done what Harvey told them to do," Burke said. "They have carried on his legacy of giving people hope, even when they themselves had almost none."
Baker took time out of his schedule and flew in from his home in Key West, Fla., to attend the symposium and visit the flag exhibits. He is currently finishing the longest rainbow flag ever created, the Sea-to-Sea Rainbow25 Flag.
The flag will be unveiled later this month in Key West and will stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf as part of a 25-year celebration of Baker's creation of the rainbow flag.
A quarter-mile section of the Sea-to-Sea flag will come to San Francisco and will be carried in the gay pride day march down Market Street.
The Milk exhibition is a small but thorough collection of artifacts, personal belongings, campaign memorabilia and items from Milk's popular Castro District camera shop. The exhibit is split between displays about Milk's rise to prominence within the San Francisco political world and the gay community and his subsequent iconic status in the ongoing gay movement after his 1978 assassination at the hands of fellow city supervisor Dan White.
The exhibition includes Milk's framed Board of Supervisors certificate, a book called "Raising God's Children" by anti-gay spokeswoman Anita Bryant, two bullet-pierced letters that were carried in Milk's coat pocket when he died, and an array of posthumous memorabilia and Milk-inspired works, including a libretto and CDs from the Harvey Milk opera that premiered in 1995.
"His murder was turned into a martyrdom by people who needed that representation," said exhibit curator Susan Stryker, the executive director of the GLBT Historical Society. "One side (of the exhibit) is Harvey Milk's career and life and the other side is his afterlife."
Where to go
-- The "Saint Harvey -- The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Gay Martyr" exhibition opens today at the Museum of GLBT History, 657 Mission St., Suite 300, San Francisco. Exhibit hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. (415) 777-5455.
-- The "Unfurling Pride" exhibition will be on display through July 17 at the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St., and at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, 1800 Market St., during regular business hours.
For more information about both shows, visit www.glbthistory.org. E-mail Ray Delgado at rdelgado@sfchronicle.com.
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