By Janna Brancolini
Years ago, my family and I stayed in Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C., the famously gay neighborhood of our nation's capital. One morning we were walking to breakfast when my then 11-year-old brother exclaimed, much to my mother's horror, "Mom, look at those fairies!"
"Nico, where did you hear that word?" my mom hissed quietly. "That is extremely rude, and we do not refer to gay people as 'fairies.'"
"But Mom… they're fairies," he said, confused at her response and still pointing.
We all looked over. There, marching down the street, was a line of mostly middle-aged men in fairy wings and glitter, gay pride banners flapping in the wind.
If I were asked to describe the gayest wedding I could think of, it might therefore include fairy wings. But getting married in the middle of a giant pink triangle, during Pride Parade weekend, on a mountain that is visible from festivities, in the most gay-friendly city in the world, would probably suffice as well. And this weekend, that is exactly what San Franciscans will have the opportunity to do.
This year, the Gay Pride Parade and Celebration's accompanying Twin Peaks Pink Triangle display will be offered as a wedding venue to show that 60 years after the Holocaust, the shape that was used to identify gay prisoners in Nazi concentration camps is now a symbol of community pride.
There is no specific time set aside for ceremonies, according to Patrick Carney of Friends of the Pink Triangle. Just show up, and bring your spouse, guests, license, and someone who can legally marry you. Carney said via e-mail that he was inspired to open up the site for weddings because one of the three goals of the Pink Triangle display is to show promise for a brighter future.
"Marriages on the Pink Triangle certainly show that the situation for gays is improving in many places," he wrote. "The sight of a Pink Triangle once meant likely death; now it might even mean a wedding is taking place."
According to its website, the Pink Triangle has been assembled every year during Pride Parade weekend since 1995. Just six years after this "renegade craft project" was first erected under the cover of night to prevent police attention, President Bill Clinton sent the Pink Triangle's creators a letter of support.
This year's commemoration ceremony will be held Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. Speakers include the usual San Francisco elected officials — Mayor Gavin Newsom, Senator Carole Migden, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Supervisor Bevan Dufty, and Treasurer Jose Cisner — and German Consol General Rolf Shutte will comment on the new gay Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.
Special guest Ashram Parsi, who has been called the "first Iranian gay activist," will speak about the obstacles and dangers facing Iran's LGBT community. Information about the history of the event and symbol, and volunteer opportunities, is available here.
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