Castro Street

Among the seven lines of the Muni metro, there's Castro Shuttle, which traverses, in fact, the Castro neighbourhood, one of the most important symbols in the world of the gay community. It is in these streets that the famous rainbow flag was born, when Harvey Milk became the first openly gay politician elected in the city council. Artist and activist Gilbert Baker created it for the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade of June 25, 1978. It is quite easily seen in many places of the Muni Metro. Originally, it had 8 colours and all of them represented a different aspect: pink for sex; red for life; orange for health; yellow for sunlight; green for nature; light blue for art; blue for harmony; purple for spirituality. As years passed, the flag was changed (the colours are now 6). But in 2015, the MOMA in New York bought the original flag and it is now in its permanent collection. of the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. "We were in need of something beautiful: something that came from us", explained Gilbert baker, who passed away in 2017. "The rainbow is perfect because it really represents our diversity, in terms of race, sex and age. It is also a natural flag because it comes directly from the sky".