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Pink
Triangles,
an educational video about homophobia and oppression, was produced
by a group of nine women and men, both gay and straight, who work
as health workers, teachers, social workers, mental health counselors,
historians and in photography, print and film. This film is aimed
at all viewers who are interested in examining the common roots
of the oppression of all of those who are defined as "out of the
mainstream."
"Pink
Triangles" was one of the very first films to confront the
growth homophobia in American life and served to alert audiences
to the danger of scapegoating and violence that can occur in any
society.
"Pink Triangles" is a documentary film that challenges some
of our most deeply-rooted feelings: our attitudes toward homosexuality.
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Although the film is specifically about homophobia, it is also about the
very nature of discrimination and oppression. "Pink Triangles" examines
both historical and contemporary patterns of persecution in which racial,
religious, political and sexual minorities are singled out as "different,"
"not normal" or "inferior" and become the victims of the scapegoat mentality
of societies under stress.
The film is a synthesis of many disparate ideas and elements, including:
- The research
of a German born historian who escaped the Nazi imprisonment of homosexuals
and returned to investigate the plight of mnay thousands who suffered
in the concentration camps wearing the Nazi insignia for gay men --
the pink triangle.
- Discussions
with mental health and health care providers who are struggling to
change institutional biases against lesbians and gay men.
- Historical
material from the McCarthy hearings and the pontifications of the
"Christian Right."
- Perspectives
of parents who have confronted their feelings about their children's
homosexuality.
- Ideas of educators,
authors and activists concerning the political motivation for homophobic
attitudes and the enforcement of rigid sex roles in our culture.
- A Gay Speakers
Bureau discussion about sexuality with a group of high school students.
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