2002/01/01 by Erik Jensen · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #European history and politics #Lesbian #Symbol (formal) #Queer #Persecution #Politics #Homosexuality #Nazism #Emblem #Sociology #Gulag #Law #Gender studies #Political science #Literature #Art #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1353/sex.2002.0008
openalex publication_date 2002/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/06
When, in the winter of 1993, the gay magazine 10 Percent criticized the use of the pink triangle as an emblem of gay identity, it touched a nerve. 1 "As a symbol of shared victimization, it is indefensible," wrote Sara Hart, a senior editor of the magazine. "To equate the discrimination and harassment of the present with the savagery inflicted upon the lesbians and gay men of the Holocaust trivializes their suffering." 2 Readers disagreed, however, and the letters in the following two issues underscored the relevance of the pink triangle to the gay and lesbian community. One reader stated, "You editorialize about how the wearing of this symbol 'trivializes' the suffering of concentration camp victims. . . . Are the deaths of tens of thousands of people (as a result of the Reagan administration's inaction on AIDS) trivial?" 3 Another argued that the pink triangle raised the political consciousness of gays and lesbians and "compels us to take action against homophobic trends, such as current attempts to pass antigay initiatives throughout the country." 4 A third reader, even though she deplored the [End Page 319] commercialization of the pink triangle, still supported its display "on somber occasions, such as in remembrance of victims of queer-bashings." 5