The opinion article published in\u00a0The Washington Times<\/a>\u00a0titled, “Army recruitment ads look quite different under\u00a0Trump<\/a>,” shows an illustrated television as the leading image. In the middle of the TV is an upside-down pink triangle crossed out by a red “no” symbol.<\/p>\n The\u00a0pink triangle<\/a>\u00a0was used as a badge to identify gay men in concentration camps, and many received especially harsh treatment before they died, historians and LGBTQ+ activist groups say. But in the decades since World War II, the pink triangle has been reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community as a symbol of activism and pride.<\/p>\n When reached for comment about Trump’s sharing of the article, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said, “No president has been a greater friend to the Jewish community and Israel than President Trump.”<\/p>\n But LGBTQ+ Jewish non-profit organization\u00a0Keshet<\/a>\u00a0told USA TODAY it was “horrified” to learn about Trump’s post. Here’s what to know about the symbol’s history.<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0National Center for Lesbian Rights<\/a>, Germany had a thriving LGBTQ+ community at the turn of the 20th century. But bias, especially against\u00a0gay men,<\/a>\u00a0rose as the Nazis worked towards an “Aryan” race.<\/p>\n From 1933 to 1945, approximately 100,000 queer men were arrested and upwards of 15,000 were sentenced to concentration camps, marked by pink triangles, according to\u00a0San Francisco’s Pink Triangle Memorial<\/a>\u00a0website.<\/p>\n The pink triangle indicated to others in the camp that the men wearing them were “bottom tier,” according to NCLR, which reported that an estimated 60% of them were killed.<\/p>\n In the second half of the century, the symbol was reclaimed as a pride symbol by LGBTQ+ groups. Notably, a right-side-up pink triangle was used for\u00a0ACT UP’s “Silence=Death”<\/a>\u00a0campaign for AIDS awareness and action. NCLR points out pink triangles are depicted on flags and signs at LGBTQ+ gatherings worldwide.<\/p>\n “The triangle \u2013 now right side up \u2013 serves as a reminder that we cannot allow history to repeat itself,” a June 2024 post from NCLR reads. “We must never forget what the symbolism and history that the pink triangle represents and recommit to a future dedicated to liberation for all.”<\/p>\n The upside-down pink triangle was featured in a Washington Times opinion article by Jeremy Hunt, chairman of advocacy group Veterans on Duty, arguing that the military had made a positive shift in moving away from LGBTQ+ pride ads for recruitment.<\/p>\n Trump shared the opinion piece in a post on Truth Social without adding any comment.<\/p>\n “Such actions are frighteningly reminiscent for both LGBTQ+ people and Jews of our long histories of persecution, which have included tactics we’re seeing today, such as scapegoating, book bans, destruction of information access, and control\/confiscation of identity documents like passports,” said Keshet President and CEO Idit Klein in an emailed statement to USA TODAY.<\/p>\n In response to questions about whether Trump knew about the history of the image or endorsed the article, White House spokesperson Rogers pointed to Trump’s actions on behalf of the Jewish community in his first month in office.<\/p>\n “President Trump signed an Executive Order to combat\u00a0anti-Semitism on college campuses<\/a>,\u00a0cut funding for colleges<\/a>\u00a0that allow violence against Jewish students, fulfilled his promise to deport pro-Hamas immigrants, returned\u00a0American and Israeli hostages<\/a>\u00a0taken by terrorists to their families, and successfully negotiated a\u00a0cease fire in Gaza<\/a>,” she said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n Trump has ordered federal agencies to eliminate\u00a0diversity, equity and inclusion<\/a>\u00a0initiatives, and mentions of gender and the transgender community have been\u00a0pulled from federal government websites.<\/a><\/p>\n Defense Secretary\u00a0Pete Hegseth<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0acted on Trump’s directives<\/a>, posting a note that read “DoD =\u0338 DEI…no exceptions, name-changes, or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here.”<\/p>\n The Washington Times did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.<\/p>\n Klein said the majority of Americans support LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination policies.<\/p>\n “We hope that this majority will speak out to protest these attacks and demand that all people be treated with dignity.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a\u00a0Truth Social post\u00a0on Sunday, President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0shared an article with a promo image depicting a symbol previously used by Nazis to identify gay men during the Holocaust. The … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24124,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24122\/revisions\/24124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is the history and meaning of the pink triangle?<\/h2>\n
![\"Marchers](\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/03\/13\/USAT\/82372474007-1438232625.jpg?width=660&height=433&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\nPink triangle was featured on Washington Times opinion piece shared by Trump<\/h2>\n