Queer People Wore Pink Triangles in Nazi Death Camps. And Today?
Today, “traditional values” and “family values” have been hijacked by extreme right-wing groups
The German Nazi regime of the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s was very organized. They were preparing for a 1000 year reign. Meticulous records were kept without any fear of justice or retribution. They were the law and they controlled the retribution.
Anyone who challenged their authority were sent to prisons and camps. The camp uniforms, like their military uniforms had specific badges to denote the crime of the individual. Above is one of the charts they used. It is chilling in its scientific organization.
You were known by your number and your badge. Your number was even tattooed on your arm. It was brutally efficient.
According to Wikipedia *, the pink triangle was worn primarily by homosexual men and those identified as such at the time (e.g., bisexual men and transgender women). Many in this group were subjected to forced sterilization. The Nazis believed that these people were a weakness that had to be removed from society.
October 22, 2021 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that teaching children “that a boy can become a girl and vice versa” was monstrous and “on the verge of a crime against humanity.” He stated that supporters of transgender rights were seeking the end to “basic things such as mother, father, family or gender differences.” **
This past week he invaded the Ukraine.
So, now I take Russia off my travel list…but as I look the countries spouting “traditional values” around the world, my travel list starts to shrink dramatically. I have even started to take some US states off my list.
“Traditional values” and “family values” have been hijacked by extreme right-wing groups worldwide. Here they are held up as “traditional American values”. Religious dogma is aggressively being used to give them the moral backbone they need to justify their hate.
Their hypocrisy is so blatant that you can be numbed by the shock of it.
I have even read published opinions today that transgender “philosophy” was responsible for the Ukrainian invasion because Putin believed that by accepting that transgender individuals as part of our society, we were demonstrating that we are weak and soft.
How pathetically sad, massively ignorant and absolutely wrong.
NBC reported November 28, 2017:
“Ukraine’s LGBTQ soldiers hope their service will change hearts and minds. “Are we not heroes?” LGBTQ people in Ukraine hope their military service will help change views toward sexual and gender minorities.” ***
I hope that President Putin learns to fear the badges these LGBTQ soldiers wear on their uniforms as he commits his version of “crimes against humanity” against the Ukraine.
Emma Holiday
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_concentration_camp_badge#Badge_coding_system
**https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/22/putin-valdai-speech-trump-cancel-culture/
***https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/ukraine-s-lgbtq-soldiers-hope-their-service-will-change-hearts-n822291
This story is a response to the Prism & Pen writing prompt, Let’s Write About How Queer People Live Under Authoritarianism.
