When the first gay rainbow flags flew over San Francisco in 1978, they weren't intended to be an international symbol for a growing social movement. The story of the rainbow flag is a lot more complicated than most tellings would suggest: It starts with anti-gay ballot initiative and ends with accusations of a decades-long lie.
In the spring of 1978, queer Californians faced a right-wing backlash against the rising visibility of gay people led by a conservative state senator proposing the Briggs Initiative to ban LGBTQ+ individuals from working in California public schools.
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