Props to pink triangle participants
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 25th annual Pink Triangle. We have a new look this year, which in this time of pandemic illustrates our perseverance and resiliency. This illuminated pink triangle will continue to shine as a beacon of hope for the 50th San Francisco Pride though July 10. Volunteers are needed to help take it down Saturday, July 11, at noon and will receive a pink triangle T-shirt.
Thank you to the amazing, enthusiastic, and uplifting organizing and fundraising team for Illuminate the Pink Triangle: Ben Davis and the nonprofit Illuminate (masterminds behind the Bay Lights) and his love, Vanessa Inn; Patricia Wilson, who produced the festive pink LED torch procession; David Hatfield, Madeleine Maguire, Whitmire Vo, Wendy Norris, Gary Virginia, Gregg Cassin, Kile Ozier, Robin Abad, Garaje Gooch (for his amazing photos and videos); longtime volunteer Debra Walker; and a few other volunteers who helped put up the outline while remaining socially distant. Thank you to my husband, Hossein Carney, and my sister, Colleen Hodgkins — I could not be doing this for the 25th time without them.
The ceremony: Thank you to San Francisco Mayor London Breed; Sister Roma, who told the history of the pink triangle; Consul General of Germany Hans-Ulrich Suedbeck; state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco); Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco); San Francisco Treasurer Jos� Cisneros; San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman; and violinist Kippy Marks, who performed several times during the ceremony.
Thank you to the Dykes on Bikes and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for taking part in the pink torch procession. Thank you to the 75-plus torchbearers. Thank you Burning Man artists Josh Zubikoff and Srikanth Guttikonda of the Looking Up Arts Foundation who designed the torch.
Fiscal sponsors for the lighting: thank you to the nearly 500 supporters who contributed to the Illuminate the Pink Triangle GoFundMe charity site.
General fiscal sponsors: thank you to San Francisco Pride (Carolyn Wysinger, Fred Lopez, Peter Kane); the Bob Ross Foundation (via Thomas E. Horn for the T-shirts); the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; Hodgkins Jewelers; and Brian Gerritsen.
The pink triangle is one of history's reminders of hate and brutality, and part of appreciating and celebrating where we are for any Pride weekend is understanding where we have been. Just look out of your window, or off your balcony or roof, or from the street and the giant illuminated display is a reminder of where hatred can lead and what can happen when discrimination and bigotry are allowed to become law as they did under the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s.
San Francisco is the only city on the planet with a giant one-acre pink triangle hovering over the city for its Pride weekend. This giant pink triangle is uniquely San Francisco.
Patrick Carney
San Francisco
Updated, 7/10/20: This letter has been updated by the author to include some additional thank-yous.
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