In 1987, a Lavender Rhino flag was raised at Boston City Hall. The Lavender Rhino lived on as a symbol of the LGBTQ community, making a second appearance at Boston Pride in 1976. 3, 1974, the first cycle of ads were running on the MBTA's Green Line. The number of panels was reduced to 100 and were restricted to the Green Line, strategically chosen for its placement and route through the city and beyond.īy Dec. Eventually, the organization raised enough money to begin the circulation of the ads. Gay Media Action received donations to pay for the increase in costs, including a donation for $1,000 from Paperback Booksmith (now the Brookline Booksmith). These pictures show the papier-mâché Lavender Rhino that marchers pushed along the route of Boston Pride in 1974. A life-sized papier-mâché Lavender Rhino also proceeded along the route and it was effectively immortalized as a symbol of protest and resistance. In response, the Lavender Rhino debuted at Boston's Pride march as people wore t-shirts, pins and signs featuring it. This 1974 article in The Boston Globe detailed the controversy of the Lavender Rhino before Boston Pride of that year.ĭespite the public outcry, the MBTA Board of Directors announced their decision to stand by the price increase in the first week of June. Gay Media Action hired lawyer Richard Rubino to represent their case in court and mobilized a protest campaign that resulted in hundreds of letters being sent to the MBTA and MTA. Gay Media Action made the decision to challenge the MBTA and MTA's decision to raise the price of the ads through public protest and legal means. Gay Media Action didn't have the funds to cover the increase in cost and the Lavender Rhino ads were put on hold. This decision raised the $2 per car-card rate for public service projects to a $7 per car-card rate, tripling the cost of the campaign. In May of 1974, Metro Transit Advertising announced that its lawyers were "unable to determine eligibility of the public service rate" for the Lavender Rhino ads. The MBTA and Metro Transit Advertising, the MBTA's New York City based advertising agent, approved the designs for the ads. The hope was to drum up enough public support to run the ads on the MBTA in time for Boston's Pride march that June. The ads were meant to encourage the visibility of the LGBTQ community in Boston.īy March of 1974, Gay Media Action sent press packets detailing the ad campaign to media outlets in Boston.
![historic gay pride pin historic gay pride pin](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LqIAAOSwW2teY7KX/s-l400.png)
Toale, who was also a co-founder of Gay Media Action, explained that the rhino was chosen because “it is a much maligned and misunderstood animal” and that the color came from the mixture of pink and blue, a symbolic merger of the masculine and feminine. Two Boston artists, Daniel Thaxton and Bernie Toale, reimagined the rhino for a public ad campaign helmed by Gay Media Action-Advertising.
HISTORIC GAY PRIDE PIN SERIES
This series of ads were created by Gay Media Action-Advertising to encourage the visibility of Boston's gay community.
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![historic gay pride pin historic gay pride pin](https://www.prideoutlet.com/catalog/images/product/SILP-RB.jpg)
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We're partnering with The History Project, which preserves these stories.Ī lavender rhino caused a lot of controversy in Boston during the 1970s. (Illustration by Arielle Gray/WBUR) This article is more than 2 years old.Įach week this month, The ARTery will highlight a story from the archives of Greater Boston's LGBTQ history. The Lavender Rhino became a symbol of gay resistance in the 1970s.