The Pink Triangle: from Oppression to Reclamation
The AIDS epidemic and the activist movements it resulted in left multiple legacies of methods, ideologies, symbols, and images. The most prominent image associated with AIDS and the peoples’ struggle against it is the pink triangle- a symbol adopted by activist group ACT UP, with a complicated history and legacy. Today, while not the symbol of a community that it used to be, the triangle is important to the queer community in many ways.
History of the Pink Triangle
The symbol of the pink triangle originated in Germany during the Nazi regime. From 1871 until 1994, Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code criminalized homosexuality, which led to mass persecution and death when the Nazis came into power. All categories of prisoners in the concentration camps were assigned a label of different colored triangles, and the color pink was assigned to homosexual men as an act of humiliation and degradation. Inside the camps, prisoners branded with the pink triangle were especially demonized by fellow prisoners and guards alike. These gay men were subjected to inhumane scientific experiments in an attempt to “cure” them, and some were even castrated (1).
The oppression associated with the pink triangle continued after the liberation of the concentration camps in 1944. Gay men weren’t all liberated after the war, since Paragraph 175 still defined them as criminals. As a result, many of them served more time in prison, and weren’t given the reparations that other victims of the Holocaust received. This went on for quite some time; Paragraph 175 stayed intact until the 90's, and the German government wouldn’t formally apologize until 2002. For years, gay survivors couldn’t even tell their stories out of fear of incarceration, judgement, and stigma. The way this was handled contributed to a lasting stigma surrounding gay men, as well as associations with the pink triangle, which remained a symbol of oppression and suffering for years (2).
The Triangle and AIDS
When the AIDS crisis hit the United States in the 1980's, it hit hard. Gay men were disproportionately affected by the disease, and for years, gay activists begged the government for attention, policy, and research, frustrated with their complacency in the deaths of thousands. Government negligence led many to draw parallels between the AIDS epidemic and the Holocaust. Writer and activist Larry Kramer particularly focused on this comparison, even writing Reports from the Holocaust: the Story of an AIDS Activist in 1989. In the book, he insists the epidemic be regarded as a holocaust because of the deaths that came directly from negligence of the government, specifically the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations, and that even members of the gay community are complicit in the death of their peers.
These conclusions that Kramer and the like came to created grounds for the pink triangle to become a symbol of the AIDS epidemic and the fight against it. Activists wanted to shift the meaning of the symbolic image, and reclaim it as a “message of survival and resistance” (1). Major AIDS Activist group ACT UP, or the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power, adopted their own version of the triangle in 1987. Unlike the Nazi badge, the ACT UP symbol featured an upright triangle, symbolizing hope and rising above adversity. The triangle was incorporated into ACT UP’s most iconic image reading “Silence = Death.”
After this image was created, it was widely disseminated- seen in ACT UP marches, die-ins, meetings, and plastered throughout New York City. It insisted that people take accountability for the epidemic, and that silence about the oppression of gay people was deadly during the Holocaust and was still deadly during the epidemic. ACT UP desired to transform the triangle from a symbol of shame, humiliation, and oppression into one of retaliation and persistence.
Criticisms of the Triangle in AIDS Activism
The use of the pink triangle in the AIDS advocacy movement wasn’t universally accepted or well received. The Holocaust is a sensitive subject, and even though gay men were killed by the Nazis, many believed ACT UP was exploiting the tragedy and offending survivors by using the triangle in the way they did. Those who believe they were out of line argue that, in numerical terms, the queer community wasn’t the population affected the most by the Holocaust, so the imagery wasn’t theirs to reclaim. They argue that the Nazi party wanted to rid the human race of homosexuality, not necessarily all homosexual people. They pathologized homosexuality and believed it could be scientifically “cured,” and wanted to cure all gay people, not necessarily kill them. Gay men were only a fraction of the population that died in concentration camps, and the Nazis didn’t exactly see them as a fixed population to be eliminated.
However, the Nazis did absolutely destroy a budding homosexual liberation movement (6). Gay men were harassed and murdered. The queer community was affected by the Holocaust, and that is a fact of gay history. The holocaust was especially difficult for the community to come back from because gay men weren’t given reparations for their suffering. Paragraph 175 remained intact and enforced, and an apology wasn’t issued by Germany until 2002. Because of this, the meaning behind the pink triangle remained raw and relevant, making it a very powerful image for ACT UP to reclaim.
The discourse surrounding the triangle resembles that of reclaiming slurs. Using a phrase or image that historically signifies oppression to promote liberation or resistance will always upset certain people. Questions and criticisms will always arise in situations like these, and activist communities cannot tread lightly on powerful reminders of a painful past.
The Triangle & Queer Imagery Today
The pink triangle is still present in the queer community today — it’s used in AIDS memorials across the globe, and remains a lasting symbol associated with ACT UP and the epidemic. However, it’s no longer the image most used to represent the queer community. After its creation in 1978 by Gilbert Baker, the rainbow flag quickly caught as the new gay symbol. The rainbow suggests a shift in focus from a history of oppression and trauma to a present and future of pride, acceptance, and moving forward. When Baker made the first flag in the last years of the AIDS epidemic, he intended the colors to represent life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic/art, serenity/harmony, and spirit. The flag incites a more positive feeling, and is all-inclusive, whereas many queer people who aren’t cisgender gay men felt excluded by the pink triangle. The rainbow has met criticism for erasing the past and the realities of homophobia and oppression today, but it still remains a universally accepted symbol of the queer community.
Overall, the triangle shouldn’t be erased from queer memory, but all modern queer activists should respect their predecessors and the struggles they endured during the Holocaust and the AIDS epidemic, and use imagery and methods that reflects that. Activist terms and imagery change constantly, but we should all find ways to incorporate the past into our activism.
References:
1. Shankar, Louis. “How the Pink Triangle Became a Symbol of Queer Resistance.” HISKIND Magazine. April 19, 2017. Accessed April 30, 2018. https://hiskind.com/how-the-pink-triangle-became-a-symbol-of-queer-resistance/.
2. Jensen, Erik N. “The Pink Triangle and Political Consciousness: Gays, Lesbians, and the Memory of Nazi Persecution.” Journal of the History of Sexuality 11, no. 1 (2002): 319–49. Accessed April 20, 2018. doi:10.1353/sex.2002.0008.
3. Chinn, Sarah E. Transformations; University Park Vol. 22, Iss. 2, (Fall 2011/Winter 2012): 124–131,152.
4. “Symbol.” The Pink Triangle. Accessed April 30, 2018. http://www.thepinktriangle.com/history/symbol.html.
5. “GILBERT BAKER.” Gillbert Baker. Accessed April 30, 2018. https://gilbertbaker.com/.
6. Broich, John. “How the Nazis Destroyed the First Gay Rights Movement.” The Conversation. April 26, 2018. Accessed April 30, 2018. https://theconversation.com/how-the-nazis-destroyed-the-first-gay-rights-movement-80354.
