The Homomonument

Look down at your feet. These three pink granite triangles arranged in a larger triangle shape are not decorative. They carry enormous weight.

This is the Homomonument, unveiled in 1987 and the first monument of its kind anywhere in the world. It stands as a tribute to the estimated 10,000 homosexuals who were killed in Nazi concentration camps. In those camps, gay prisoners were forced to wear a downward-pointing pink triangle sewn onto their uniforms, marking them as targets. Artist Karin Daan took that symbol of humiliation and transformed it into something else entirely: a sign of remembrance and hope.

The monument honors gay men, gay women, and others persecuted for who they were. It also speaks to the present. Every year during Amsterdam Gay Pride, thousands gather right here, in this spot, to remember.