RON HENGGELER

June 11, 2024
The Pink Triangle

on Twin Peaks in San Francisco 

The Pink Triangle has returned to Twin Peaks and is on display through the month of June.

The Pink Triangle has been installed atop Twin Peaks in San Francisco for each Pride weekend since 1996, as a visible yet mute reminder of man's inhumanity to man. It is almost 200 feet across, nearly an acre in size, and can be seen for 20 miles. 

From: Pink Triangle History

But why is it on top of Twin Peaks? 

It is an educational tool for all to see. The Pink Triangle is one of history's reminders of hate and intolerance, and part of appreciating and celebrating where we are today for Pride Month, is understanding where we have been. The pink triangle was used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify homosexual prisoners. This symbol, which was used as in an attempt to label and persecute, has been embraced by the gay community as a symbol of pride. However, we mustn't forget its tragic origins. 
From: The Pink Triangle in San Francisco

The view of San Francisco seen from Twin Peaks

The Pink Triangle in 2020

The pink triangle was used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify and shame homosexuals. This symbol, which was used to label and shame, has been embraced by the gay community as a symbol of pride.

From: Pink Triangle History

In the 1930s & 1940s there was nothing celebratory about the pink triangle. Gays were forced to wear the pink triangle on their breast pockets in the concentration camps to identify them as homosexual to set them apart from other prisoners.

From: Pink Triangle History

SF Pride Weekend, June 2018

SF Pride Weekend, June 2018

The Pink Triangle in June 2020

Triangles of various colors were used to identify each category of "undesirable": yellow for Jews, brown of Gypsies, red for political prisoners, green for criminals, black for anti-socials, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, blue for immigrants, and pink for homosexuals.

Pink Triangle History

The pink triangles were slightly larger than the other colored triangles so that guards could identify them from a distance. It is said that those who wore the pink triangles were singled out by the guards to receive the harshest treatment, and when the guards were finished with them, some of the other inmates would harm them as well.

From: Pink Triangle History

SF Pride Weekend, June 2018

Patrick Carney, Founder of the Pink Triangle

Recognising Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year. Set on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945, it is dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.

The test of any democracy is how well it treats its minorities. The Third Reich demonstrates how easily a government can devise minority scapegoats. Branding homosexuals as criminals let most Germans feel comfortable looking the other way while the Nazis went about their persecution. Germany is today one of the gay-friendliest places on Earth with true safeguards for LGBTs, however tactics used there so long ago still occur today in other places. While most nations are continually progressing, dozens others are ever more oppressive, less and less tolerant and less inclusive, and are violators of human rights. Many LGBTs in those areas will spend the unforeseen future living in utter fear. 

SF Pride Weekend, June 2018

A view of the Pink Triangle from Market and Castro

Hossein Carney

SF Pride, June 2016

In amongst the millions who died, there is a group of people who are rarely mentioned. During the rise of the Nazi regime, thousands of LGBT people were identified and arrested. These people were persecuted. sent to forced labour camps and many were later used in medical experimentation.
It is estimated that up to fifteen thousand gay men were systematically worked to death during the Second World War. After the liberation of the camps, gay victims were still treated as criminals by Allied forces.
In many countries it was still illegal to be gay, with many imprisoned gay men left to serve their sentences for the 'crime' of being gay.

SF Pride Weekend June 2018

SF Pride Weekend June 2018

The Pink Triangle in 2020

June 2020

At the end of the war, when the concentration camps were finally liberated, virtually all of the prisoners were released except those who wore the pink triangle. Many of those with a pink triangle on their pocket were put back in prison and their nightmare continued. 

From: History

June 2012

The Pink Triangle display is also intended as an instrument to initiate discourse about hate crimes. We want to help prevent others from experiencing the results of hatred that Matthew Shepard, Allen Schindler, Brandon Teena, and countless others have been subjected to. If we can help prevent additional crimes like those committed against them, we will have been successful in our attempt to inform the public. 

From: Pink Triangle History

June 2012

June 2020

The pink triangle symbol has since evolved into an important reminder for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community of the continuing homophobia and inhumanity against them and other repressed minorities around the world. We transform the side of the Twin Peaks north hill facing the Castro district and downtown San Francisco, into a memorial by installing a giant pink triangle made up of dozens of pieces of pink canvas that can be seen from miles away during SF Pride weekend each year.

From: The Pink Triangle of San Francisco