US President Donald Trump on Sunday, March 9, shared an article on his Truth Social platform. The article included an image of the Pink Triangle, a symbol used during the Holocaust to identify gay men in Nazi concentration camps.
Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has signed several executive orders affecting LGBTQ+ policies. These include recognizing only two sexes in government policy and removing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs from government and the military. Transgender individuals have been banned from serving in the military again, and healthcare for transgender minors has also been restricted.
The article Trump shared is titled “Army recruitment ads look quite different under Trump” and was written by former US Army intelligence captain Jeremy Hunt for The Washington Times. The featured image in the article is credited as “Military recruitment ads illustration by Linas Garsys / The Washington Times.”
The article discusses changes in the military’s focus under Trump and US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth. It says that their policies emphasize aggression and lethality, moving away from inclusive messaging. It contrasts this with a recruitment ad from the previous Biden administration that featured an Army officer attending a Pride parade. The article says, “For most presidents, major cultural change in our nation’s armed forces doesn’t happen overnight. It usually takes years for a commander in chief to leave a mark on the military. But President Trump and secretary of defense Pete Hegseth are accomplishing what often takes years in a matter of weeks. This administration’s undoing of Biden-era distractions and the refocusing of the Pentagon on lethality are moving at breakneck pace… Consider the stark contrast between the military recruitment ads today and those from the Biden era. One of the most famous ads of President Biden’s term showcased an Army officer named Emma marching in an LGBTQ pride parade.”
This is the third instance where individuals linked to Trump’s administration have been connected to symbols associated with the Nazis. Trump advisors Elon Musk and Steve Bannon were previously seen making ‘Roman Salutes’ at the inauguration and at CPAC. Now, Trump has shared an article that includes an image of the Pink Triangle, a symbol connected to Nazi concentration camps.
Meaning of the Pink Triangle
The Pink Triangle was used by the Nazi regime to identify gay men, similar to how the yellow star was used for Jewish people. From 1933, Nazi policies targeted homosexuals as part of efforts to “purify” Germany.
In concentration camps, people marked with the Pink Triangle were subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including medical experiments, castration, and mass executions. The color pink was used to highlight the belief that gay men were “feminine.” Some lesbians were also assigned the Pink Triangle, but most were given a black triangle, which labeled them as “asocial” because they did not fit into the Nazis’ ideal family structure.
As per Sydney Jewish Museum website, a monument featuring the Pink Triangle, known as the Gay and Lesbian Holocaust Memorial, is located in Sydney’s Green Park, opposite the Sydney Jewish Museum. Opened in 2001, the memorial recognizes and remembers the persecution of the LGBTQIA+ community during the Holocaust.
In Berlin, the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism was not established until 2008.
The Pink Triangle was later reclaimed by the gay community during the AIDS epidemic. Activists from the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) used the symbol, turning it upright to represent resistance. It was featured in the Silence = Death campaign to raise awareness about the AIDS crisis and criticize government inaction.
Today, the Pink Triangle is sometimes used to honor ACT UP or to remember gay and transgender individuals persecuted during the Holocaust, whose history remained largely unrecognized for many years.
