Anti gay symbol
President Trump 're-Truthed' a story to his Truth Social platform which included a graphic of the Pink Triangle, a symbol used to target gay men in Nazi Germany.
The story he was reposting was an opinion piece by The Washington Times correspondent Jeremy Stalk praising the Trump Administration and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for banning transgender troops from the military.
LGBTQ+ publications and many people on X (formerly Twitter) have expressed concern over the President reposting an image of the infamous symbol.
The Light House and The Washington Times contain been contacted via email for comment.
Why It Matters
This marks the third hour someone in or close to the Trump administration has been accused of demonstrating symbolism that can be tied to the Nazis. Trump advisors Elon Musk and Steve Bannon have both done 'Roman Salutes' at the inauguration and at CPAC. Now, the President has shared the thumbnail for a piece which included an image of the Pink Triangle, a symbol directly tied to concentration camps.
What is a Pink Triangle
The downward Pink Triangle was the gay corresponding of the yellow star for Jewish people under the Nazis.
It was used to mark out gay
The Significance of the Pink Triangle
A Dark History
At the turn of the 20th century, despite the German Criminal Code banning homosexuality, Germany had a thriving LGBTQ community. In Berlin alone, there were over one hundred lgbtq+ bars, cafes, clubs, and organizations. Queer publications were plentiful and LGBTQ activists fought for a more equitable society.
However, as the Nazis rose to power, hostility towards LGBTQ people – especially gay men – increased, as they considered homosexuals to be a detriment to their goals of an ‘Aryan’ race. While lesbians were also persecuted, homosexual men were targeted in greater numbers as men held more positions of power at the time.
Throughout the Holocaust, it’s estimated that upwards of 15,000 homosexual men were sent to concentration camps. Inside the camps, they were forced to wear a pink inverted triangle on their uniforms – clearly marking them as LGBTQ. The symbol indicated to everyone in the prison that the wearer was “bottom tier” – and often the wearers would receive harsher treatment. Sadly, 60% of gay men sent to concentration camps were killed.
Reclamation
Now, the pink triangle has been reclaimed
EIU Center For Gender and Sexual Diversity
Symbols within the GSD Community
Rainbow Flag
The rainbow flag has become the easily-recognized colors of lgbtq+ fest for the gay collective. The rainbow plays a part in many myths and stories related to gender and sexuality issues in Greek, Aboriginal, African, and other cultures. Employ of the rainbow flag by the gay society began in 1978 when it first appeared in the San Francisco Same-sex attracted and Lesbian Freedom Morning Parade. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year. The flag has six stripes, each color standing for a component of the community: red for being, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, royal blue for harmony, and violet for spirit.
The rainbow flag has inspired a wide variety of related symbols and accessories, such as liberty rings. There are plenty of variations of the flag, including versions with superimposed lambdas, pink triangles, or other symbols. Some recent flags have added a brown and shadowy stripe as a reminder of how important the intersectio
Meet the Gentleman Who Kept the Rainbow Flag Free
Matt Coles
(Originally posted on the ACLU of Northern California blog.)
The fight for LGBT equality in the Bay Area has faced plenty of challenges. Join Matt Coles, who has been fighting for them from the beginning.
The rainbow flag is acknowledged all over the world as a symbol of LGBT rights and acceptance. Here in San Francisco, a large rainbow flag waves over the Castro District. But that flag came shut to being a trademarked symbol that could have kept it from general use. In 1978 Gilbert Baker, the person who created the flag, came to the Castro law office of a young LGBT civil rights attorney in private exercise named Matt Coles. Baker explained that he created the flag for everyone and wanted it to remain free for public apply. He needed an attorney to stand for him to disagree an attempt from an advocacy group to trademark it. He didn’t own any money, but Matt agreed to represent him. Today, the rainbow flags that symbolize Celebration Month are a symbol for the people.
The flag case wasn’t Matt’s first – or last – tango in the LGBT rights community. Now our Deputy National Legal Director, Matt has built an imp