Rainbow-colored flags

"There are many nice single women in New York, but all the nice guys are married or gay." This line is from the hit American drama series “Sex and the City.” Yet the true haven of gays in the U.S. is not New York but San Francisco. Every June, a gay festival is held in the Northern California city in which homosexuals march together holding rainbow-colored flags on Castro Street, a gay-friendly neighborhood. This festival has become a key tourist attraction in San Francisco. In this city, a candidate cannot be elected mayor unless he or she gains the support of Castro Street residents.

On Nov. 27, 1978, Harvey Milk, adviser to San Francisco’s city council, and Mayor George Moscone were murdered by fellow council member Dan White. Milk, a Korean War veteran, was the first openly gay politician in the U.S. When the homophobe White received the relatively light sentence of seven years and eight months in prison because his crime was considered impulsive murder rather than first-degree murder, angry homosexuals started gathering from across the country to protest, holding up rainbow-colored flags. When this story was made into the 2008 Hollywood movie “Milk,” President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., for his contributions to enhancing the human rights of a sexual minority in 2009.

Rainbow colors symbolize homosexuality and are used to urge authorities and the public to recognize diversity, including alternative sexual orientation. Painter Gilbert Baker, who designed the rainbow-colored flag, originally used seven colors -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink -- but purple was later omitted. In Korea, many people use shirts or bag belts with rainbow colors, but seem unaware of their meaning. They could be mistaken as homosexuals abroad. Residents of Castro Street hang rainbow-colored flags to signal that they are homosexuals, and homes without such flags are rare there.

Newsweek magazine in its latest edition carried on the cover a picture of President Obama capped with a rainbow-colored crown, with the title “The First Gay President.” Obama is not gay, but the cover metaphorically describes his support of same-sex marriage. Johanna Sigurdardottir of Iceland was inaugurated in 2009 as the world`s first openly lesbian prime minister. States in the U.S. have different policies on gay marriage. The U.S. presidential election is getting increasingly interesting since attention is on what impact Obama’s support of same-sex marriage, his bold bet in the election, will eventually bring. The Republican Party, whose key support base is Christians, is opposed to gay marriage.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)