The Pk Triangle: From Nazi Label to Symbol of Gay Pri | HISTORY

Contents:

• THE PK TRIANGLE: FROM NAZI LABEL TO SYMBOL OF GAY PRI
• SF'S PK TRIANGLE PARK: MEMORIALIZG LGBT LIV LOST PK TRIANGLE PARK | © RYAN GSNER/WIKICOMMONS COURTNEY HOLB 16 DECEMBER 2019 COPY LK FACEBOOK EMAIL TWTER PTERT JT ABOVE THE CASTRO STREET MUNI STATN, PK TRIANGLE PARK STANDS SMALL BUT SIGNIFINT ALONGSI THE TRAFFIC OF SAN FRANCIS’S MARKET STREET. THE PARK WAS OPENED DECEMBER 2001, SERVG AS THE FIRST EE-STANDG MONUMENT THE US TO MEMORIALIZE THE 15,000 MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY TIMATED TO HAVE BEEN KILLED DURG THE HOLOT. VIEW ALL TRIPS MEMORIAL PYLON | © ZBORALSKI/WIKICOMMONS THE TRIANGULAR PARK FEATUR 15 TRIANGULAR WHE GRANE PYLONS WH PK TRIANGL EMBEDD TO THEIR PEAKS, EACH REPRENTG 1,000 PERSECUTED MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY. THE PYLONS ARE ARRANGED THE SHAPE OF A TRIANGLE, SURROUNDG A LARGER PK QUARTZ TRIANGLE THE MIDDLE OF THE PARK. THE TRIANGLE IS ORIENTED TO POT TOWARD HARVEY MILK PLAZA, WHICH MEMORIALIZ MILK (THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PERSON TO BE ELECTED TO PUBLIC OFFICE CALIFORNIA) BY FLYG A 20×30-FOOT RABOW FLAG THAT N BE SEEN OM SOME OF THE FARTHT EDG OF THE CY. TAKE A SP TO FD YOUR PERFECT SMALL-GROUP TRIP STATN PASSPORTS READY? YOUR NEXT STATN IS... VIEW TRIP SP TURKEY ICELAND GREECE EGYPT SOUTH AI THAILAND MEXI INDIA SPA ECUADOR CROATIA BALI JAPAN MOROC HARVEY MILK PLAZA | © STRANGE JIM/FLICKR THE SHAPE OF THE PARK AND S PYLONS RELL THE PK TRIANGL THAT GAY MEN WERE FORCED TO WEAR SEWN ONTO THEIR CLOTHG NAZI GERMANY TO ISOLATE AND SHAME THEM. EVEN AFTER GERMANY WAS FEATED, THOSE WEARG PK TRIANGL WERE FORCED TO RETURN TO IMPRISONMENT. THE PARK SEEKS TO RECLAIM THE PK TRIANGLE AS A SYMBOL OF CELEBRATN, RATHER THAN SHAME, FOR THOSE LGBT LIV. PK TRIANGLE PARK IS LOTED THE HEART OF SAN FRANCIS’S CASTRO DISTRICT, A NEIGHBORHOOD FAMO FOR S VIBRANT, LORFUL CELEBRATN OF GAY PRI. WHEN VISG THE PARK, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME OF THE OTHER GEMS THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS TO OFFER, CLUDG SOME OF THE CY’S BT RTRANTS, BNCH, BARS, AND MUCH MORE. MAJESTIC TURKEY TRAVEL OM THE BAZAARS OF ISTANBUL TO THE BETIFUL BEACH OF ANTALYA. VIEW TRIP PK TRIANGLE PARK | © ED AND EDDIE/FLICKR THE CASTRO/EUREKA VALLEY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATN, WHICH MISSNED PK TRIANGLE PARK, EXPLAS S TENTNS: ‘THIS IS A CIVIL RIGHTS PARK… THROUGHOUT HISTORY, THERE ARE TIM WHEN PREJUDICE OVERWHELMS ALL REASON AND HUMANY… PK TRIANGLE PARK AND MEMORIAL IS A PLACE OF REMEMBRANCE, REFLECTN AND TN.’ THE PARK WAS SIGNED BY ARTISTS ROBERT BCE AND SAN MART. IN A STATEMENT ABOUT THE PARK, THEY CLAIM: ‘WE WANTED THE SCULPTURE TO BE NTEMPLATIVE. WE WANTED TO MOURN THE AD (PAST), TO CELEBRATE THE LIVG (PRENT), AND TO HOPE FOR THOSE TO E (FUTURE).’ THE ARTISTS EXPRS THEIR HOPE THAT THE PARK’S VISORS WILL ‘RPECT EACH OTHER AS THIS SCULPTURE RPECTS THE SE… CONTEMPLATE THE SOFTNS OF THE PLANTS AND THE FIRMNS OF THE GRANE… LOTE THE SOFTNS AND THE FIRMNS WH THEMSELV… REMEMBER THAT GAY MEN WORE PK TRIANGL, LBIANS WORE BLACK TRIANGL, GYPSI WORE BROWN TRIANGL, POL WORE BLUE TRIANGL, SOCIAL MOCRATS AND OTHER POLIL PRISONERS WORE RED TRIANGL, AND JEWS WORE YELLOW STARS… [AND] THK ABOUT HOW PERSECUTN OF ANY DIVIDUAL OR SGLE GROUP OF PEOPLE DAMAG ALL HUMANY.’ BEE A CULTURE TRIPPER! SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO SAVE UP TO 40% ON OUR UNIQUE TRIPS. SIGN UP SEE PRIVACY POLICY. MEMORIAL PLAQUE | © ZBORALSKI/WIKICOMMONS VOLNIC ICELAND EPIC TRIP MEET OUR LOL INSIR HANNA HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A GUIDE? 2 YEARS. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB? IT'S THE PERSONAL NTACT, THE PERSONAL EXPERIENC. I LOVE MEETG PEOPLE OM ALL OVER THE WORLD... I REALLY LIKE GETTG TO KNOW EVERYONE AND FEELG LIKE I'M TRAVELG WH A GROUP OF IENDS. WHAT DESTINATION IS ON YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET-LIST? I HAVE SO MANY PLAC ON MY LIST, BUT I WOULD REALLY LOBE TO GO TO AI. I NSIR MYSELF AN “ADVENTURE GIRL” AND AI FEELS LIKE THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE! EVERY CULTURE TRIP SMALL-GROUP ADVENTURE IS LED BY A LOL INSIR JT LIKE HANNA. SEE OUR CULTURE TRIPS KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?
• GAY RIGHTS

THE PK TRIANGLE: FROM NAZI LABEL TO SYMBOL OF GAY PRI

As part of their missn to racially and culturally “purify” Germany, the Nazis arrted thoands of LGBT dividuals, mostly gay men, whom they viewed as Uned Stat Holot Memorial Mm timat 100, 000 gay men were arrted and between 5, 000 and 15, 000 were placed ncentratn mps. )Corbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, the mps, gay men were treated pecially harshly, by guards and fellow prisoners alike.

“There was no solidary for the homosexual prisoners; they belonged to the lowt ste, ” Pierre Seel, a gay Holot survivor, wrote his memoir I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual: A Memoir of Nazi timated 65 percent of gay men ncentratn mps died between 1933 and 1945.

Horac Villalobos/Corbis/Getty ImagMemorial plaqu for homosexuals, Jehovah's Wns and Wehrmacht serters are placed where once stood one of the molished barracks Buchenwald ncentratn mp near Weimar, Germany. In 1986, six New York Cy activists created a poster wh the words SILENCE = DEATH and a bright pk upward-facg triangle, meant to ll attentn to the AIDs crisis that was cimatg populatns of gay men across the untry. And the fact that was almost impossible to nvict anyone unls he nfsed to such a crime urt meant that police jt kept a watchful eye on gay bars and events, and Germany end up beg home to a vibrant gay muny.

SF'S PK TRIANGLE PARK: MEMORIALIZG LGBT LIV LOST PK TRIANGLE PARK | © RYAN GSNER/WIKICOMMONS COURTNEY HOLB 16 DECEMBER 2019 COPY LK FACEBOOK EMAIL TWTER PTERT JT ABOVE THE CASTRO STREET MUNI STATN, PK TRIANGLE PARK STANDS SMALL BUT SIGNIFINT ALONGSI THE TRAFFIC OF SAN FRANCIS’S MARKET STREET. THE PARK WAS OPENED DECEMBER 2001, SERVG AS THE FIRST EE-STANDG MONUMENT THE US TO MEMORIALIZE THE 15,000 MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY TIMATED TO HAVE BEEN KILLED DURG THE HOLOT. VIEW ALL TRIPS MEMORIAL PYLON | © ZBORALSKI/WIKICOMMONS THE TRIANGULAR PARK FEATUR 15 TRIANGULAR WHE GRANE PYLONS WH PK TRIANGL EMBEDD TO THEIR PEAKS, EACH REPRENTG 1,000 PERSECUTED MEMBERS OF THE LGBT MUNY. THE PYLONS ARE ARRANGED THE SHAPE OF A TRIANGLE, SURROUNDG A LARGER PK QUARTZ TRIANGLE THE MIDDLE OF THE PARK. THE TRIANGLE IS ORIENTED TO POT TOWARD HARVEY MILK PLAZA, WHICH MEMORIALIZ MILK (THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PERSON TO BE ELECTED TO PUBLIC OFFICE CALIFORNIA) BY FLYG A 20×30-FOOT RABOW FLAG THAT N BE SEEN OM SOME OF THE FARTHT EDG OF THE CY. TAKE A SP TO FD YOUR PERFECT SMALL-GROUP TRIP STATN PASSPORTS READY? YOUR NEXT STATN IS... VIEW TRIP SP TURKEY ICELAND GREECE EGYPT SOUTH AI THAILAND MEXI INDIA SPA ECUADOR CROATIA BALI JAPAN MOROC HARVEY MILK PLAZA | © STRANGE JIM/FLICKR THE SHAPE OF THE PARK AND S PYLONS RELL THE PK TRIANGL THAT GAY MEN WERE FORCED TO WEAR SEWN ONTO THEIR CLOTHG NAZI GERMANY TO ISOLATE AND SHAME THEM. EVEN AFTER GERMANY WAS FEATED, THOSE WEARG PK TRIANGL WERE FORCED TO RETURN TO IMPRISONMENT. THE PARK SEEKS TO RECLAIM THE PK TRIANGLE AS A SYMBOL OF CELEBRATN, RATHER THAN SHAME, FOR THOSE LGBT LIV. PK TRIANGLE PARK IS LOTED THE HEART OF SAN FRANCIS’S CASTRO DISTRICT, A NEIGHBORHOOD FAMO FOR S VIBRANT, LORFUL CELEBRATN OF GAY PRI. WHEN VISG THE PARK, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME OF THE OTHER GEMS THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS TO OFFER, CLUDG SOME OF THE CY’S BT RTRANTS, BNCH, BARS, AND MUCH MORE. MAJESTIC TURKEY TRAVEL OM THE BAZAARS OF ISTANBUL TO THE BETIFUL BEACH OF ANTALYA. VIEW TRIP PK TRIANGLE PARK | © ED AND EDDIE/FLICKR THE CASTRO/EUREKA VALLEY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATN, WHICH MISSNED PK TRIANGLE PARK, EXPLAS S TENTNS: ‘THIS IS A CIVIL RIGHTS PARK… THROUGHOUT HISTORY, THERE ARE TIM WHEN PREJUDICE OVERWHELMS ALL REASON AND HUMANY… PK TRIANGLE PARK AND MEMORIAL IS A PLACE OF REMEMBRANCE, REFLECTN AND TN.’ THE PARK WAS SIGNED BY ARTISTS ROBERT BCE AND SAN MART. IN A STATEMENT ABOUT THE PARK, THEY CLAIM: ‘WE WANTED THE SCULPTURE TO BE NTEMPLATIVE. WE WANTED TO MOURN THE AD (PAST), TO CELEBRATE THE LIVG (PRENT), AND TO HOPE FOR THOSE TO E (FUTURE).’ THE ARTISTS EXPRS THEIR HOPE THAT THE PARK’S VISORS WILL ‘RPECT EACH OTHER AS THIS SCULPTURE RPECTS THE SE… CONTEMPLATE THE SOFTNS OF THE PLANTS AND THE FIRMNS OF THE GRANE… LOTE THE SOFTNS AND THE FIRMNS WH THEMSELV… REMEMBER THAT GAY MEN WORE PK TRIANGL, LBIANS WORE BLACK TRIANGL, GYPSI WORE BROWN TRIANGL, POL WORE BLUE TRIANGL, SOCIAL MOCRATS AND OTHER POLIL PRISONERS WORE RED TRIANGL, AND JEWS WORE YELLOW STARS… [AND] THK ABOUT HOW PERSECUTN OF ANY DIVIDUAL OR SGLE GROUP OF PEOPLE DAMAG ALL HUMANY.’ BEE A CULTURE TRIPPER! SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO SAVE UP TO 40% ON OUR UNIQUE TRIPS. SIGN UP SEE PRIVACY POLICY. MEMORIAL PLAQUE | © ZBORALSKI/WIKICOMMONS VOLNIC ICELAND EPIC TRIP MEET OUR LOL INSIR HANNA HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A GUIDE? 2 YEARS. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB? IT'S THE PERSONAL NTACT, THE PERSONAL EXPERIENC. I LOVE MEETG PEOPLE OM ALL OVER THE WORLD... I REALLY LIKE GETTG TO KNOW EVERYONE AND FEELG LIKE I'M TRAVELG WH A GROUP OF IENDS. WHAT DESTINATION IS ON YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET-LIST? I HAVE SO MANY PLAC ON MY LIST, BUT I WOULD REALLY LOBE TO GO TO AI. I NSIR MYSELF AN “ADVENTURE GIRL” AND AI FEELS LIKE THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE! EVERY CULTURE TRIP SMALL-GROUP ADVENTURE IS LED BY A LOL INSIR JT LIKE HANNA. SEE OUR CULTURE TRIPS KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?

Historian Robert Beachy argu that, ironilly, the law spurred scientific tert the study of sexual preferenc, and that rearch tend to enurage a more scientific unrstandg of human sexualy, which further allowed the ia of gay rights to flourish. Hler saw gay men as a threat to his mpaign to purify Germany, pecially bee their partnerships uld not bear children who would grow the Aryan race he wanted to cultivate. Durg that perd, gay-iendly bars and clubs started beg shut down, thori burned the books at a major rearch stutn voted to the study of sexualy, and gay aternal anizatns were shuttered.

The efforts only creased after the Night of the Long Kniv, the 1934 purge of Nazi lears who were acced of tryg to overthrow Hler; they clud Storm Troopers lear Ernst Röhm, whom the SS murred, later cg his homosexualy as jtifitn for his murr. Some were ed as guea pigs var medil experiments to fd a cure for typh fever and a cure for homosexualy, the latter of which led the SS to ject them wh ttosterone to see if would make them straight.

As one of the USHMM’s curators has poted out, even as the Allied powers refully worked to scb Nazism om Germany, they left that part alone — perhaps bee they had anti-gay and anti-sodomy laws of their own.

GAY RIGHTS

As the gay liberatn movement grew Ameri the ’70s and the ’80s, so did awarens of the persecutn of gays durg the Holot, as books and data about perd started beg published. Data on the victims started to be ced 1977, after a statistil analysis by soclogist Rudiger Ltmann of Bremen Universy claimed that as many as 60% of the gay men sent ncentratn mps may have have died.

The first reference to pk triangl TIME also appeared that year, a story about gay-rights activists Miami who attached the symbols to their cloth as a show of solidary while prottg a vote to repeal a law protectg gay people om hog discrimatn. In 1979, Mart Sherman’s play Bent, spired by Heger’s memoir, opened on Broadway; the play, one of the characters tras his pk triangle for a yellow star, “which giv him preferential treatment over the homosexuals, ” as TIME’s review put .

The activists who formed the anizatn ACT-UP to raise awarens about this public health crisis cid to e the pk triangle as a symbol of their mpaign and allud to s history when they clared, their manifto, that “silence about the opprsn and annihilatn of gay people, then and now, mt be broken as a matter of our survival.