16 Peace Monuments Related to Lesbians, Gays
Bisexual & Transgender Persons (LGBT)
Click here for gay Holocaust memorials. | Click here for Notable LGBT Peacemakers.Right click image to enlarge.
June 28, 1969 - Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher Street (between West 4th Street & Waverly Place), Greenwich Village, New York City, New York (US). Unintentional monument from June 28, 1969, until June 24, 2016, when designated a National Monument by Presiden Obama. Site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which are widely considered the start of the modern gay liberation movement.
By the end of the 1970's - Rosa Winkel / Pink Triangle (Germany). "One of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Every prisoner had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on his or her jacket, the colour of which was to categorise him or her by 'kind.' Other colors identified Jews (two triangles superimposed as a yellow star), political prisoners, Jehovah's Witnesses, 'anti-social' prisoners, and others the Nazis deemed undesirable [image at right]. /// Originally intended as a badge of shame, the pink triangle (often inverted from its Nazi usage) has been reclaimed as an international symbol of gay pride and the gay rights movement, and is second in popularity only to the rainbow flag... Some academics have linked the reclamation of the symbol with the publication in 1972 of the memoir 'Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel / Men with the Pink Triangle' by concentration camp survivor Heinz Heger [1917-1994]... A pink triangle surrounded by a green circle [is now] used to symbolize alliance with gay rights and space free from homophobia."
September 5, 1987 - Homomonument, Keizersgracht Canal, Amsterdam (Netherlands). Near the historic Westerkerk church. "Commemorates all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their sexual orientation. Takes the form of three large pink triangles made of granite, set into the ground so as to form a larger triangle."
February 27, 2001 - Gay & Lesbian Holocaust Memorial, Green Park, Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales (Australia). "Green Park is adjacent to the Sydney Jewish Museum, which ensures that the memorial retains its historic meaning."
May 27, 2001 - Palm Springs, Florida (USA). "The first monument specifically dedicated to the memory of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered veterans was dedicated on Memorial Day, 27 May, 2001, through the cooperative efforts of AMVETS Post 66 & Palm Springs Gay Veterans."
November 11, 2001 - Ring of Peace, First United Methodist Church, Beech & 2nd Streets, Casper, Wyoming (USA). By Chris Navarro. "You may remember that Matthew Shepherd [1976-1998], a young gay man, was murdered by homophobes in Laramie, Wyoming, [the night of October 6-7,1998]. There's nothing in Laramie to commemorate him, but if you visit the website his parents created, they recommend you see a statue called the Ring of Peace in Casper, that's dedicated first to Matthew, and also to the victims of the Columbine shootings [and 9/11]... a nice idea, but it's just sad how run down and crappy it looks. It was possible for me to take a nice picture of it, but only if I was very careful to crop out almost all the surroundings." Plaque is inscribed: "May we work together to achieve peace, hope and reconciliation among all of God's people."
2003 - Pink Triangle Park & Memorial, Castro neighbourhood, San Francisco, California (USA). "First permanent, free-standing memorial in America to the thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgendered people sent to Nazi death-camps in World War II. 15 triangular granite columns, one for every 1,000 gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people estimated to have been killed during the Holocaust, stand at the tip of a pink-rock-filled triangular shaped park."
2005 - Holocaust Memorial, near Plaza Independencia, Montevideo (Uruguay). In downtown Montevideo. "While Montevideo may not have nearly the active gay & lesbian endeavors as nearby Buenos Aires, it is a city of tolerance. A special place to visit is the Holocaust memorial to gays persecuted & killed during the Second World War. Set atop a concrete column, the memorial is inscribed: 'Honoring Diversity is Honoring Life.' 'From our little country we are telling the world that sexual diversity is something very positive,' according to Fernando Fontan, a gay activist. Besides the Homo Monument in Amsterdam, this is one of the very few such memorials, and it is the first one in Latin America. Also, there is a seaside Holocaust memorial to the Jews murdered during World War II on La Rambla."
October 13, 2006 - Legacy of Love Monument, Oak Lawn Triangle, Oak Lawn Avenue & Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, Texas (USA). "The 27-foot-tall column and small surrounding garden was constructed in honor of Friedhelm Schnitzler, who died of AIDS, although its creators point out that the monument is a tribute to all of Oak Lawn's citizens, gay & straight, those who have passed on, and those who are very much alive." "It’s become a local landmark and gathering place for Dallas’ LGBT community" /// "Vandalized & tagged "666" with red paint early Sunday, June 29, 2014... The Cathedral of Hope, near Cedar Springs & Inwood roads, was also vandalized. The driveway of the church, which has a large gay & lesbian membership, was also marked with "666" graffiti. The building that houses the Dallas Observer at Maple & Oak Lawn avenues was also tagged."
March 20, 2011 - Monument to GLBT People, Ciutadella Park, Barcelona (Spain). "The triangular slab slants slightly upward toward the observer, with an inscription in Catalan that reads, 'In memory of the gays, lesbians & transexual persons who have suffered persecution and repression throughout history, Barcelona 2011." Mayor Jordi Hereu dedicated [the] granite triangle framed in pink... The location was a compromise after the Roman Catholic Church raised a ruckus over the proposed installation of the memorial in the immediate vicinity of Antoni Gaudi's famed Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, which is also the city's number one tourist attraction."
