Holocaust Memorial Day & Gay Men

[Former Member]

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. (Yes, there are several different Holocaust Memorial Days celebrated on different days.)

While the largest percentage of victims of the Nazi Holocaust and Death Camps were Jewish, there were other groups targeted by the Nazis. Jehovah’s Witnesses (not my favorite group), Slavs, Gay men, and others were also imprisoned and killed. (Soviet prisoners of war were often treated even more harshly.)

Of course, the group I identify with most strongly is the Gay men. While Jews were forced to wear a yellow Star of David, Gay men were forced to wear a pink Triangle. This symbol of hate was reclaimed as a symbol of pride by the LGBTQ community. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that some of the younger members of GA were unaware of this history since it isn’t usually taught in history class.

But unlike other victims imprisoned in the Nazi camps, Gay men were not released when the Allies liberated the Death Camps. Gay men were forced to serve out the rest of their sentences. The law used to convict the Gay men was Paragraph 175 – a great documentary with this name was released in 2000 with four survivors being interviewed (of the fewer than ten estimated to be still alive at that time). A Lesbian who escaped to England was also interviewed.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Former Member

[Former Member]

[Former Member]

Gad Beck (June 30, 1923 – June 24, 2012), one of the men interviewed in Paragraph 175. 

[Former Member]

San Francisco’s Pink Triangle Park (across Market Street from Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro District)

The gigantic Rainbow Flag flying over Harvey Milk Plaza and the entrance to the SF Muni Metro Castro Station

Overhead map of Pink Triangle Park, San Francisco, showing the arrangement of the pillars and paths.
Market Street is the long straight line on the lower right.

[Former Member]

This temporary Pink Triangle is set up annually above The Castro on Twin Peaks to celebrate Pride Weekend in June.