He stayed in San Francisco and joined the Gay Liberation Movement. He was able to avoid detection for the remainder of his military service and was honorably discharged in February 1972. Image Credit: Photo courtesy of Patricia Baker Image Description: Gilbert Baker looks at the camera wearing glasses and a military uniform. The power of love opened my closet door.” Gilbert Baker came out to his family, and they disowned him. I was not going to lie about being gay anymore. I cried, but I wasn't going to go back into the closet and get married like him. A while later, I heard from a friend that Jim had gotten married and gone back to Tennessee. After completing their nursing programs they were sent to different hospitals: Jim went to Okinawa and Baker was stationed in San Francisco. The pair soon fell in love but Jim was afraid of being caught. The pair become fast friends: “walking across the Golden Gate Bridge or hiking to the top of the Marin Headlands just to take in its breathtaking sights” Together they explored the forest and beaches of the Presidio and different neighborhoods in the city. Jim, lived in the same barracks and also worked as a medic in the same facility as Baker. In his off time, he was with another soldier, a friend. He spent his week days working as a medic in Oakland: collecting urine and blood samples for testing from soldiers returning from Vietnam. Gilbert Baker moved into the military barracks at the Presidio in 1970. My cubicle had a window with an unobstructed view of the Golden Gate Bridge.” “I was assigned to barracks built on the sandy shores of the bay. He excelled in his courses and eventually became a nurse. Baker agreed and was sent to a medic training. The staff sergeant called Baker into his office and strongly suggested that he become a medic instead. One morning he refused to carry a weapon, and demanded discharge as a conscientious objector. After this experience, and more threats he was fed up. He shot at the melon until it exploded and explained that this is what happens to gay people in the army: “they die”. One day after failing to hit the target on the firing range, the drill sergeant removed Baker from the group and put a watermelon in front of his target. During basic training he was subject to more homophobic harassment from superior officers. Gilbert Baker’s experience only got worse however. Baker maintained his composer and the sergeant finally signed off on the bottom of his form. The sergeant responded, “Are you sure? You sound like one.” Baker continued to deny it, as the sergeant threatened him with dis-honorable discharge and homophobic slurs. He began the sexuality screening process by asking, “Are you a homosexual?” Baker responded by saying “no”- a lie he was used to telling. A sergeant heavily questioned Baker during his induction process. Baker saw a way out when he was drafted into the army on his 19th birthday in June 1970. Even with his love for art and music, Baker was not happy in Kansas. His parents relented a bit when Baker won a school art contest with a scholarship to an art academy. It was as if I had told them I was also gay.” When I first told my parents that I wanted to be an artist, they responded in extremely negative terms. Being an artist was bad in the same way that homosexuality was bad. Baker wrote: “But this, after all, was Kansas in 1956. At an early age he found refuge in art but his parents discouraged him from pursuing this hobby. Gilbert Baker was born on June 2nd, 1951 in Kansas. The activism and art of Gilbert Baker helped unify a community in the bay area and beyond. Baker went on to design and create the first Rainbow Pride Flag for San Francisco Gay Freedom Day. military officer stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco, Gilbert Baker joined the San Francisco Gay Liberation Movement after his discharge.
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