Pink triangle

The pink triangle (German: Rosa Winkel) was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. The pink triangle was also used to identify sexual offenders including rapists, paedophiles and zoophiles. 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. Pink and yellow triangles could be combined if a prisoner was deemed to be gay and Jewish.

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.

History

Under Nazi Germany every prisoner had to wear a concentration camp badge on their jacket, the color of which categorized them into groups. Homosexual men had to wear the Pink Triangle. 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.

Pink Triangle (audio manufacturer)

Pink Triangle Products Ltd was a British audio manufacturer specialising in high end turntables. It was founded in London in 1979 by Neal Jackson and Arthur Khoubesserian, both gay men. Jackson chose the name 'Pink Triangle' after the symbol used for homosexuals by Nazis in concentration camps. Initial manufacturing took place on an industrial estate in Maidstone Road, Sidcup, Kent and later at Lomond Grove, Camberwell, London.

Very few of their first product, referred to as the Pink Triangle Original turntable, were produced. This product and some of the later models included some then very innovative design features. It had an 'aerolam' (a very light and stiff aluminium honeycomb structure developed for and first used by the aircraft industry) sub-chassis that rigidly coupled the platter/bearing assembly with the tone-arm. The wooden plinth was topped with a 3 part mirror glass plate that covered an aluminium frame providing mounting points for the suspension and DC motor. The suspension was unusual in that the subchassis hung from three extension springs rather than sitting on compression springs; a more stable arrangement.

Pink Triangle (song)

"Pink Triangle" is a song by American rock band Weezer. As the third single from their second album Pinkerton, it was released to radio on May 20, 1997. The song was remixed by Tom Lord-Alge, adding a reworked guitar solo, a synth track, overdubbed vocals, and a new bass track played by Scott Riebling.

Background

The song describes a man with ambiguous sexuality who falls in love with a woman with whom he imagines he could settle down and be married. However, he soon discovers that the object of his affection is a lesbian who possibly thinks that the man himself is gay. The song is based on a real person that Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo encountered while a student at Harvard. Years later, he discovered that the woman was actually not a lesbian but merely showing support for the gay community by wearing a pink triangle.

A promo single was sent to radio stations that also contained an acoustic version of the song recorded at Shorecrest High School in Seattle, Washington. The song received limited airplay and never charted and thus was deemed not to warrant a video. It is the band's least successful single thus far.