SAN FRANCISCO – The giant pink triangle is back at Twin Peaks this pride month as a symbol of hope.
Organizer Patrick Carney has put months of planning and hours of work into ensuring the pink triangle becomes a symbol people can never forget.
“We brand ourselves with the pink triangle out of camaraderie with those who were forced to wear the pink triangle during the Holocaust,” Carney said.
In the 29 years that he has been doing this, he continues to train people.
“In the last 15 minutes, I’ve probably had four people ask what it is and what it means,” Carney said.
Once intended as a sign of shame, used to identify homosexuals in concentration camps during the Holocaust, it has been reclaimed by the LGBTQ community as a positive symbol.
“The rainbow flag is the antidote to the pink triangle,” Carney said, referring to a saying he heard in the past.
Carney warns that with more anti-LGBTQ bills appearing in the Legislature every day, the efforts he started 29 years ago are still necessary. But he never thought it would get this big.
“This started as a scrappy craft project,” Carney said. “We snuck over and hung it in the dark of night so we wouldn’t get arrested.”
Now it is fully embraced not only by the LGBTQ+ community, but also by the city, which hosts a commemoration ceremony at Twin Peaks every year.
Previously, the triangle was only active for a week; now it lasts three weeks, during the Pride Parade. Organizers said it took hundreds of volunteers to lay down all the sails, and they came from all walks of life.
“I think this transcends sexuality and gender identity, in other words the cause is humanistic in its approach, the human value is critical here,” said Dawn Dzurilla, a woman who has been volunteering to help with the triangle.
“Part of celebrating pride is knowing where we’ve been and this pink triangle is knowing where we’ve been,” Carney said.
The pink triangle will come down on Sunday, June 30, after the Pride Parade is over.
