Rainbow Honor Walk

The Rainbow Honor Walk (RHW) is a walk of fame installation in San Francisco, California to honor notable lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals from around the world "who left a lasting mark on society." Its bronze plaques honor LGBTQ individuals who "made significant contributions in their fields". The plaques mark a walk located within the business district of the Castro neighborhood, which for decades has been the city's center of LGBTQ activism and culture.
The project was founded by David Perry to honor LGBTQ pioneers, who are considered to have laid the groundwork for LGBTQ rights, and to teach future generations about them. The sidewalk installations are planned to extend from the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy at 19th Street & Collingwood, to proceed along Castro Street to its intersection with Market Street, and follow Market to the San Francisco LGBTQ Community Center at Octavia Boulevard; additionally the Walk will branch out in both directions at 18th Street and Castro. The RHW eventually could number up to 500 honorees. The first round of twenty plaques was installed in 2014, a second round of twenty-four was completed in 2019.
A separate sidewalk installation, the Castro Street History Walk, is a series of twenty historical fact plaques about the neighborhood—ten from pre-1776 to the 1960s before the Castro became known as a gay neighborhood, and ten "significant events associated with the queer community in the Castro"—contained within the 400 and 500 blocks of the street between 19th and Market streets.
History.
In the late 1980s David Perry, "whose public relations firm has handled everything from the Olympic Torch Relay in 2008 and the 2016 Super Bowl 50 Committee," and a gay man, had an epiphany while walking past the Castro Theater in San Francisco's Castro district, the cultural center of the city's LGBTQ communities for decades; and his home since 1986. The neighborhood was one of the country's epicenters during the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic before the AIDS cocktail in the 1990s; and during the city's response to slow the impact on the gay male community. Perry said, The "Bay Area Reporter" noted five of the inaugural twenty: Keith Haring, activist George Choy, Sylvester, Randy Shilts, and Tom Waddell; all died from AIDS. Perry envisioned a Hollywood Walk of Fame but for LGBTQ people to reach future generations. Gayle Rubin, a "scholar of San Francisco LGBTQ history and professor of anthropology and women's studies at the University of Michigan" stated, "Marginal groups and those who are disrespected for various reasons tend to not have their accomplishments recognized in public landmarks." The RHW could eventually include 500 honorees.
In 1994, Perry proposed the LGBTQ walk of fame to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and LGBTQ community leaders including the Castro Business District (CBD). All approved the concept. The CBD would later serve as the fiscal sponsor until the RHW was an independent charity. Because of the more urgent needs related to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in San Francisco, the project and its fundraising goals were put on hold. Separately in 2009, Isak Lindenauer, a poet, writer, Castro business-owner and resident since the 1980s, had a similar vision; then-city Supervisor Bevan Dufty connected the two, so they joined efforts. Lindenauer coined "Rainbow Honor Walk;" and used a mockup showing the name surrounded by rainbow motif mosaic tiles. Supervisor Bevan Dufty authored city legislation for the project in 2010, although most of the details, including design and scope, had yet to be worked out.
The RHW has been approved to extend from the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy at 19th Street & Collingwood, to proceed along Castro Street (the 400 and 500 blocks) to its intersection with Market Street, and follow Market to the San Francisco LGBTQ Community Center at Octavia Boulevard; additionally the RHW will branch out in both directions where 18th Street intersects Castro Street.
In 2009, Perry and other community advocates co-founded the RHW, an all-volunteer, non-profit organization to manage the process of identifying and documenting about twenty honorees each round, and to gain funding for commissioning plaques and their installation. Perry has served as the board chair until stepping down in 2019, although he'll remain as an unpaid consultant to the project. Anyone can nominate potential honorees; the inaugural round had more than 150 people suggested. In 2011 the non-profit announced the inaugural twenty honorees, whose plaques were installed in 2014.
Kathy Amendola, owner of Cruisin’ the Castro Walking Tours, the city's "first and only Legacy Business Tour Company", and the first female RHW board member, noted the diversity of the honorees; and said it was a part of the RHW's mission: to “present multi-sexual, multi-gender and multi-cultural spectrum of human history.” The tour company added routes based on the RHW.
RHW board.
The ten-plus member RHW board of directors oversees all aspects of the project. In addition to selecting the honorees, they direct the planning, fundraising, and execution of producing and placing the permanent bronze plaques. One RHW board member, Benjamin Leong, was already an LGBTQ activist when Perry and Lindenauer recruited him in July 2011, "The project grabbed my interest and attention because it is important to know ones history and this project serves to educate and honor the LGBTQ heroes and heroines of the past and present."
Among the fundraising efforts was a sale of local artist Beth Van Hoesen’s paintings, including of drag queens she met in the Castro: The Widow Norton, whose included in the RHW; and The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Design competition for plaques.
In 2012 the RHW board held a no-fee, international design competition, led by Anthony Turney, for the plaques, three-foot by three-foot in size to match the existing sidewalk. Each plaque will contain: the honoree's name; birth and death dates; their signature, and a brief description of contributions. A LGBTQ historian drafts the likely final text which is also vetted by the GLBT Historical Society.
An independent blind jury of "curators from San Francisco's leading cultural institutions", LGBTQ community leaders, and a representative of San Francisco Arts Commission's (SFAC) Civic Design Committee determined four finalists. Tom DeCaigny, Director of Cultural Affairs for the SFAC, said
The RHW board chose a design by architect Carlos Casuso of Madrid, Spain, who was given a $1000 honorarium. The design proposed a bronze plaque cut into quarters, with each honoree's photo "digitally treated so it can be easily engraved in the bronze". The engraved image fills the entirety of the plaque, while "one quarter is reserved for the honoree's biographical information". The contest was overseen, and design reviewed by the SFAC—which must approve all structures built on public property—and the Department of Public Works. The images are acid etched in the bronze plaque which is an inch thick. About a dozen images from the finished inaugural group can be seen on this article.
The finished pieces are treated with a slip-resistant coating, which is also protective from shoe scuffing, and the plaques are bolted to the concrete. The protective coating is re-applied every five years. The city administers ongoing maintenance in partnership with the RHW, while insurance costs are built into the fundraising for each round of plaques. Additionally the "composition, make, and design of the plaques have been carefully evaluated to ensure endurance and durability"; plus they are extremely heavy so theft would entail industrial equipment.
Mussi Artworks Foundry, a foundry in Berkeley, California, manufactures the plaques. The process was overseen by Lawrence Noble, head of the sculpture department at SF Academy of Art University. The initial per-plaque cost was around $5,600 including production and insurance; for the second round the cost is about $7000 each.
Inaugural round of honorees (2014).
The inaugural round of twenty honorees includes: Jane Addams, James Baldwin, George Choy, Federico Garcia Lorca, Allen Ginsberg, Keith Haring, Harry Hay, Christine Jorgensen, Frida Kahlo, Del Martin, Yukio Mishima (née Kimitake Hiraoka), Bayard Rustin, Randy Shilts, Gertrude Stein, Sylvester, Alan Turing, Tom Waddell, Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, and Virginia Woolf. Co-founder David Perry noted at the time, A conscious decision to not include Harvey Milk in the inaugural round was made as he already had a handful of places named after him; as well as two historical markers outside his old camera shop on Castro Street.
The installation was coordinated to be a part of the Castro Street Streetscape Project, an extensive $10 million reimagining of Castro Street's 400 and 500 blocks: including the intersection with 18th Street; and improvements to Jane Warner Plaza at Castro and 17th streets, the F Market & Wharves outbound terminus of the heritage streetcars. The light-posts were updated with rainbow lighting, street-friendly trees— Ginkgos and King Palms—installed, sidewalk ‘throughways’ widened, rainbow crosswalks installed, and walks and streets repaved.
Inaugural dedication.
The plaques were unveiled September 2, 2014, and feature twenty "civil rights activists, writers, poets, artists, and musicians". The opening ceremony took place at Harvey Milk Plaza, at the intersection of Castro and Market streets, with remarks from Perry and LGBTQ politicians. Openly gay California Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said, "not unlike slaves, [our communities] have been denied our heroes and our history." He added, "People who have changed the history of the course of our planet come from our community."
The inaugural plaques were installed in alphabetical order starting at the plaza: following Castro to 19th Street; 19th to Collingwood Street; and then on the other side of the street returning. The dedication proceeded to each plaque where LGBTQ leaders and RHW board members unveiled them in a cascading ceremony.
The non-profit raised $100,000–$112,000 for the first round of plaques. They each cost approximately $5,600–$6,000. The funds came from private sources. Two Indiegogo online fundraisers for Sylvester, and Alan Turing each raised $10,000. Additionally, thousands were raised by the sale of souvenirs at the Castro outlet of the Human Rights Campaign's Action Center.
Two of the installed plaques were later seen to have typos: Oscar Wilde's said he had a "bitting wit" rather than "biting wit"; and Christine Jorgensen's spelled transgender without the "s”. They were replaced by the manufacturer and both plaques with errors were to be auctioned: Wilde's to raise funds for the RHW; Jorgensen's to benefit the Transgender Law Center. They were replaced a month later; free of any costs.
Second round of honorees (2016–2019).
There were 170 people nominated for the second round of honorees. In June 2016, the second round of honorees, twenty-four total, was announced including: Alvin Ailey, W. H. Auden, Josephine Baker, Gladys Bentley, Glenn Burke, Quentin Crisp, Divine, Marie Equi, Fereydoun Farrokhzad, Barbara Jordan, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Audre Lorde, Leonard Matlovich, Freddie Mercury, Sally Ride, Sylvia Rivera, Vito Russo, José Sarria, Maurice Sendak, Rikki Streicher, Gerry Studds, Lou Sullivan, Chavela Vargas, and We'wha. These plaques were estimated to total $120,000. Their estimated cost per plaque was around $7000 each.
The first eight plaques of this round were unveiled in June 2018; and installed, on both sides of Market Street between Castro and Noe streets, in November of that year. On the north side of Market Street are the plaques for Fereydoun Farakzah, Barbara Jordan, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, and Sally Ride. On the south side is Glenn Burke, Jose Sarria, Rikki Streicher, and We'Wha. These cost $48,437, while the project has $31,000 raised for the next plaques.
The second eight's designs were unveiled at a June 2019 Pride month RHW fundraiser at Google which raised over $3300. The plaques themselves were installed in August 2019 on Market Street between Castro and Noe streets including: Chavela Vargas, Marie Equi; Josephine Baker, Freddie Mercury; Alvin Ailey, W.H. Auden, Gerry Studds, and Lou Sullivan.
The third group of this round includes: Gladys Bentley, Audre Lorde, Divine, Sylvia Rivera, Leonard Matlovich, Vito Russo, Quentin Crisp, and Maurice Sendak. They are planned to be installed by October 11, 2019, the annual observance of National Coming Out Day.
Third round of honorees (2020).
Perry confirmed the third round of honorees should be announced in 2020.
Castro Street History Walk.
A separate sidewalk installation, the Castro Street History Walk (CSHW), is a series of twenty historical fact plaques about the neighborhood—ten from pre-1776 to the 1960s before the Castro became known as a gay neighborhood, and ten "significant events associated with the queer community in the Castro"—contained within the 400 and 500 blocks of the street between 19th and Market streets. They were installed at the same time as the inaugural twenty RHW plaques. The CSHW goes in chronological order starting at Harvey Milk Plaza at Market Street, up to 19th Street, and returning on the opposite side of Castro Street. The $10,000 CSHW was paid for by the Castro Business District (CBD) which "convened a group of local residents and historians to work with Nicholas Perry, a planner and urban designer at the San Francisco Planning Department who worked on the sidewalk-widening project and lives in the Castro" to develop the facts. Each fact was required to be about the neighborhood or the surrounding Eureka Valley. The facts are limited to 230 characters, and were installed in pairs along with a single graphic reminiscent of the historic Castro Theater.