Move over Valentine's Day! Feb 14 is Pink Triangle Day
ANNIVERSARY / Day marks big legal victory for Canadian gays
Xtra staff / National / Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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Pink Triangle Day cards:
Email, print and share!
Move over Valentine's Day! Sat, Feb 14 marks the 30th anniversary of Pink Triangle Day, the queer holiday declared in 1979 to mark the first major legal victory for Canada's gay rights movement.

On Feb 14 of that year three officers of Pink Triangle Press (PTP, the nonprofit company that publishes Xtra) were acquitted of indecency charges stemming from the article "Men Loving Boys Loving Men," published in the Dec 1977/Jan 1978 issue of The Body Politic.

At the 1979 annual meeting of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Rights Coalition, delegates unamiously passed a resolution declaring Feb 14 as Pink Triangle Day.

"It was — and is — our gift, not just to our own communities but to every other Canadian, demonstrating that we can fight back and win against the powerful forces that seek to limit what we say and what we see," writes PTP executive director Ken Popert of the historic win in a recent message to PTP staff.

"That this slap in the face of censorious authority was delivered on Valentine's Day, a day devoted in recent times to love and more anciently to carnality, makes it all the sweeter."

To help queer Canadians celebrate Xtra has three Pink Triangle Day cards available online for your mailing and emailing pleasure. Just print out the paper card version, fold and add your message or email the .jpeg version to friends and lovers.

Happy Pink Triangle Day from all of us at Pink Triangle Press!

Read more: pinktriangleday.com

> Download the print PDF version
> Download the email version

> Download the print PDF version
> Download the email version

> Download the print PDF version
> Download the email version








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Reader Comments


 
Thanks for remembering Pink Triangle Day!
Dear Xtra: Thanks for commemorating our history and long fights for justice. Just last year, I was honoured by Xtra's sponsorship and the support of queer and Jewish community groups at McMaster University for my talk there in honour of Pink Triangle Day. As Hamilton is my hometown, this was a momentous occasion for me to have been welcomed so warmly and to have formed so many wonderful friendships among community members there. For anyone interested, I have posted the text of my talk on Slates (via Facebook). The link is as follows: http://apps.facebook.com/wildfire_slates/725578734?tablet_id=30185&mode=0& Thanks again Xtra and our longserving community advocates for all you do. Be in touch anytime if we can help in any way. Joanne Cohen, Bruce E. Walker Law Office, www.bwalkerlaw.com Toronto, Ontario
Joanne Cohen, Toronto ON
02/12/09 1:40 PM EST
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Hamilton LGBTQ Groups and Partners Honour the 30th
(The following is a small portion of the full multi-agency statement which was released yesterday.) The Access and Equity Office for The City of Hamilton; The AIDS Network; The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Advisory Committee for The City of Hamilton; the Hamilton and District Labour Council; the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion; the Hamilton Police Service GLBT Task Force; the Hamilton Positive Space Collaborative; Hamilton Pride Festival Inc.; The Imperial Court of Hamilton Wentworth; the Office of Human Rights and Equity Services for McMaster University; the McMaster University Queer Students Community Centre; and The Well - The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Community Wellness Centre of Hamilton ask you to remember, celebrate and honour the 30th Anniversary of Pink Triangle Day on Saturday, February 14, 2009. This February 14th, we ask you to, light a candle in your places of worship in remembrance of LGBTQ people murdered for not hiding their true selves from the world. Give a friend a Pink Triangle Day card and thank them for making your extended family that much richer. Go to your local movie theatre and watch the Academy Award nominated film Milk starring Sean Penn as the real life groundbreaking queer activist Harvey Milk. Or find your own unique and personal way to honour this anniversary and celebrate the sexual diversity found within our common humanity. Embracing our differences with pride and joy makes the multi-coloured rainbow of our shared lives even more beautiful and meaningful. Happy Pink Triangle Day!
Hamilton LGBTQ Groups and Partners, Hamilton Ontario
02/13/09 9:23 AM EST
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Nothing to Celebrate/not a gay rights issue
I had not read the article Men Loving Boys Loving Men previously. It's disgusting. This made me feel sick. No one should celebrate this promotion of child molestation. Presenting the crime in this positive light, is promotion. The fact that the relationships discussed are said to not be coercive or forceful doesn't matter. A child cannot process what is happening in these situations. It may have a negative effect later in life, if not obvious at the moment the molestation is occuring. A victory for gays, in terms of free speech? No. Most gay men and lesbians have no interest in writing or reading positive articles about child molestation, and don't want anything to do with such activities, and don't see it as positive in any way, shape, or form. Gay people are as much victims of this anti-social crime, as are heterosexuals. Certainly having a negative bias, and discriminating against something, speech, or anything else, just because of its homosexual nature is unjustifiable, irrational prejudice. Gay equality rights have advanced accordingly in light of that realization. However, that wasn't the case when it came to objections to this article. The concern is with the promotion of a harmful behaviour against children.
Clint Babula, Thunder Bay Ontario
02/16/09 8:48 PM EST
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What gives?
It appears my comments objecting to this were censored(in an anti-censorship article. I thought my post was well-reasoned, absolutley non-homophobic, and didn't personally attack anyone.
Clint Babula, Thunder Bay Ontario
02/17/09 7:24 PM EST
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Well, this is a crock
There's no explanation as to how the guidelines were violated. I took issue with the original article, Men Loving Boys Loving Men. Maybe issue was taken with my use of the term "promotion of child molestation", in relation to the article. Admittedly I used strong language. However, in my opinion the way it handles this crime, is unethical if it is not seen to be wrong and condemned. It's my opinion as to how I see the article which puts harmful sexual relationships between primary school students and teachers in a positive and sympathetic light. Surely I am not the only gay person who has a problem with what this article may be seen to represent, and sees no reason to celebrate it, or the fact that it was printed.
Clint Babula, Thunder Bay Ontario
02/18/09 7:15 PM EST
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