The Putnam County Public Library District is pleased to announce the opening of Flag in the Map: Charting Rainbow Flag Stories, a powerful international photography exhibition now on display in the Community Room at the Granville Branch through August 31st during regular library hours. The exhibition opened on June 2nd, marking what would have been the 75th birthday of Gilbert Baker. Born on that date in 1951, Baker created the original Rainbow Flag in San Francisco in 1978, giving the LGBTQ+ liberation movement one of its most enduring symbols of pride, diversity, resilience, and hope.
A collaboration between the Gilbert Baker Foundation and ReportOUT, Flag in the Map is a growing collection of photographs and stories that reaffirms the universal power of the Rainbow Flag to inspire LGBTQ+ people, especially in countries where their everyday existence is threatened. The project launched in October 2020 with an open call to people around the world, inviting submissions of photos of themselves flying their Pride Flags. The response came in from scores of countries and was curated into both an emotionally resonant book and a traveling public exhibition that has since visited venues across the U.S., U.K., Europe, and beyond, including Stonewall National Park, the U.S. Embassy in Paris, WorldPride in Malta, and the Pride House at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
About the Gilbert Baker Foundation The Gilbert Baker Foundation preserves the historic legacy of Gilbert Baker — including his landmark creation, the Rainbow Flag — and advances his vision that all people, including sexual and gender minorities, deserve freedom and equality.
About ReportOUT ReportOUT is a global human rights organization that researches, documents, and monitors the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people in every nation, turning evidence into advocacy and action.