Homomonument

Amsterdam, Netherlands (NL)

The Homomonument is a memorial in the centre of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. It commemorates all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality. Opened on September 5, 1987, it takes the form of three large pink triangles made of granite, set into the ground so as to form a larger triangle, on the bank of the Keizersgracht canal, near the historic Westerkerk church. - Wikipedia

Homomonument

Amsterdam, Netherlands (NL)

Monuments, Memorials
Links: en.wikipedia.org
By: romulusnr

Nearby:

Westerkerk

Rembrandt grave memorial in Westerkerk

Ann Frank's House

Anne Frank's House (Former)

Comments

jbottero

@ 2012-07-29 22:41:19

Is that what it is really call? I know it's politically incorrect for me to say this, but I find that simply staggeringly hilarious. In the United States, there would certainly be stadiums full of "outraged" people bursting blood vessels in their foreheads over such a name.

romulusnr

@ 2012-07-30 11:55:14

And the reason for that is because the word "homo" has not been used as a derogatory slur in Netherlands as it has in the U.S.

From Wikipedia:
"The word homo occurs in many other languages without the pejorative connotations it has in English"

If this monument were called, for example, "Flikkermonument", or "Pottenmonument", however, there *would* be stadiums of angry Dutch gays and allies -- "flikker" and "potten" are Dutch slurs for gay, whereas "homo" has not been used in that way, and as a result it remains common and unoffensive there.