The rainbow is a part of nature, and you have to be in the right

“The rainbow is a part of nature, and you have to be in the right place to see it. It's beautiful, all of the colors, even the colors you can't see. That really fit us as a people because we are all of the colors. Our sexuality is all of the colors. We are all the genders, races, and ages.” Thus spoke Gilbert Baker, artist, activist, and creator of the rainbow flag, whose vision gave a people their banner of hope. His words shine like the arc of light after storm: radiant, universal, and filled with the promise of dignity. In them we hear not only the poetry of nature, but also the cry of humanity longing to be recognized in all its diversity.

The rainbow, he tells us, is not merely a symbol but a natural truth. It is the meeting of light and water, the bending of sun through rain, a phenomenon that cannot be owned or confined. One must be in the “right place” to see it, for it appears only to those willing to look upward after the storm. So too with humanity: only those with eyes open to compassion and hearts open to difference can see the beauty of all people, shimmering together like the colors of the sky.

Baker speaks of “colors you can’t see”—a profound reminder that reality extends beyond our perception. Just as the spectrum holds wavelengths invisible to the human eye, so too does humanity contain identities, lives, and loves that may not be immediately visible or understood. Yet they are no less real, no less radiant. The rainbow, then, is not just a symbol of what is obvious, but of the hidden richness that waits to be acknowledged. To embrace it fully is to affirm all that lies beyond our own limited vision.

Consider the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, when LGBTQ people, weary of oppression and raids, resisted openly in the streets of New York. Out of that storm arose the modern movement for equality. In the years that followed, Baker’s rainbow flag was unfurled, not as a mark of division but as a proclamation: we are all the colors, all the genders, all the races, all the ages. Just as the rainbow is born of sunlight shining through rain, the flag was born of struggle transformed into hope, persecution transformed into pride.

The origin of Baker’s words lies in his own journey as an artist-activist in San Francisco during the 1970s, a city that became a beacon for those seeking freedom of identity and love. Commissioned by Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, Baker designed the rainbow flag in 1978. He chose the colors not at random, but as a deliberate celebration of diversity: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony, and violet for spirit. His creation became more than fabric; it became a universal symbol of unity in diversity.

The lesson for us is radiant: we must learn to see the rainbow not only in the sky, but in one another. Just as no single color can define the whole arc, no single identity, race, or sexuality defines humanity. To live well is to honor the visible and the invisible alike, to recognize that what seems different is part of the same light refracted in countless forms. The rainbow teaches us that unity does not erase difference—it celebrates it, weaving it into beauty.

Therefore, dear listener, let Gilbert Baker’s wisdom take root in your heart. When you look upon a rainbow, remember that you too are part of its arc, and so is your neighbor, your friend, your stranger. Resist the voices that divide; instead, honor the multitude of colors in which humanity expresses itself. Act with compassion toward those unseen, with courage for those silenced, with pride in your own true colors. For as the rainbow shines after every storm, so too will love and justice shine if we choose to see all people as part of its radiant whole.