The Homomonument was inaugurated on 5 September 1987 on the Westermarkt, beside the Westerkerk, and was the first monument anywhere in the world to commemorate gay and lesbian people persecuted for their sexuality. It remains the largest.
It is three triangles of pink granite, set into the pavement and the canal quay, which together form one much larger triangle. The pink triangle is the badge homosexual men were made to wear in Nazi camps. Each of the three points somewhere: one at street level towards the Anne Frank House, for the past; one towards the National Monument on Dam Square, for the present; and the raised one, stepping down into the canal, towards the former headquarters of the COC, for the future.
It is not fenced or ticketed and there is nothing to visit in the usual sense. People leave flowers on it, sit on the step into the water, and gather there on Remembrance Day and during Pride. The Pink Point kiosk beside it hands out leaflets explaining the design in several languages.
Address:
Homomonument
Westermarkt
1016 DK Amsterdam
Netherlands
