Pink Triangle Memorial

This is the website of The Pink Triangle Memorial at the intersection of Castro, Market and Seventeenth Streets in San Francisco. For information about the Twin Peaks Pink Triangle erected each June, please visit The Pink Triangle website.

The Pink Triangle Memorial is the first historical landmark in the USA remembering
LGBT victims persecuted in Fascist Europe between 1933-1945.

Being one of the earliest minority groups targeted, approximately 100,000 men were
arrested during this time and as many as 15,000 were sentenced to work and death
camps. Assumed feminine by nature, Homosexual men were tagged with Pink
Triangles. Lesbians, however, were not considered Homosexual but Asocial. They were
given Black Triangles and often forced into prostitution.

During the later part of the 20th century, the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Queer community reappropriated the pink triangle symbol, transforming it from a symbol of
shame & punishment into one of Pride, Resilience & Solidarity. It first reemerged as a symbol of Gay Liberation & Freedom in the 1970s and then a symbol of strength for AIDS activists, especially with ACT UP’s “Silence=Death” AIDS awareness & anti-discrimination campaign.

The Pink Triangle Memorial was formally dedicated in 2001. 15 pink and grey granite triangular pylons were erected, each one representing 1,000 men killed in concentration camps. Together the pylons form a triangle, facing the Castro’s monumental Rainbow Flag.

In addition to this, a large Pink Triangle made of rose quartz stones sits among the pink
rose bushes as a symbol of love, healing and pride. Visitors are invited to take a single stone as a remembrance to those lost and to also spread a message of hope & peace throughout the world.

Please consider making a donation so that we can continue to replenish the rose quartz.

The Eureka Valley Foundation is the all-volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is the fiscal sponsor for the Pink Triangle Memorial and responsible for its upkeep.