PLAYBOOK

Learn some LGBT terms and symbols

Why a Pink Triangle?

“The pink triangle has become one of the symbols of the modern gay rights movement, but it originated in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. In many camps, prisoners wore badges.  These badges were colored based upon the reason for imprisonment. In one common system, men convicted for sexual deviance, including homosexuality wore a pink triangle. The icon has been reclaimed by many in the post-Stonewall gay rights movement as a symbol of empowerment, and, by some, a symbol of remembrance to the suffering of others during a tragic time in history.”  www.pink-triangle.org

Why a Rainbow?

“Use of the rainbow flag by the gay community began in 1978 when it first appeared in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year. Baker and thirty volunteers hand-stitched and hand-dyed two huge prototype flags for the parade. The flags had eight stripes, each color representing a component of the community: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.”   http://jasewells.com/gayicons/

Is there a Bisexual Symbol?

“The Bi Pride Flag was introduced in late 1998 by Michael Page. While the popular rainbow flag and pink triangle symbols are generally considered to represent gays and lesbians, the Bi Pride Flag was designed specifically with Bi people in mind. The three-color flag (pink, blue, and purple) symbolizes attraction to the same sex, the opposite sex, and both sexes.”    http://jasewells.com/gayicons/

What about Transgender?

The transgender symbol “links the internationally accepted symbols for male and female together with a new entity, which is a combination of the two, and which we call transgender...The symbol includes everyone, excluding none. The circle is a symbol of wholeness, and represents the wholeness of a society which includes the transgender.”                         http://www.gendertalk.com/info/tgsymbol.shtml

What's This?

“The Human Rights Campaign symbol (an equal sign) was presumably chosen to emphasize the need for equal rights for LGBT people. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) works on the political and other levels to achieve equal rights for LGBT and other individuals. HRC's symbol has become an increasingly used symbol by the LGBT community, often as a less recognizable alternative to rainbows and pink triangles.”  http://www.wku.edu/safezone/guide/definitions.html