Amid social distancing requirements, 2020’s Pink Triangle installation on Twin Peaks — which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year — will be modified into a public light display for onlookers to appreciate from afar, illuminated by over 2,700 LED nodes.
SF's Pink Triangle, a symbol of queer inclusivity and resilience traditionally installed during the weekend of San Francisco Pride, was in danger of becoming yet another cancellation spurred by the pandemic. Without the ability to have 300-plus volunteers safely install it, creator and founder Patrick Carney was left to color outside the lines and conjure-up a novel way to organize the Pink Triangle for its silver anniversary — sans hundreds of helping hands. In light of recent events, Carney has now teamed up with Illuminate, the nonprofit behind The Bay Lights, to present this year’s Pink Triangle as a literal beacon to both honor the LGBTQ community’s past and act as a reminder of “hope, inclusion, love, and resiliency" in the age of COVID-19.
Announcing our newest public art exhibit: #ThePinkTriangle
— ILLUMINATE the Arts (@IlluminatedArts) May 19, 2020
Beginning the weekend of #SFPride (June 27), a large scale public art project will illuminate Twin Peaks for all to see! Please spread the word.https://t.co/DsQ0N2TbYa
“Part of commemorating any Pride Weekend is remembering where we have been,” Carney says in a press release. “It is a giant reminder of intolerance. Yet it has been reclaimed, to become a powerful symbol of hope, inclusion, love, and resiliency.”
This year, that figure of diversity and endurance will be put together by a small team of individuals who will place some 2,700 LED nodes to light up Twin Peaks with a wash of neon pink, so people can appreciate and view the Pink Triangle from a safe distance.
Officially, the community-lead project is now called Illuminating The Pink Triangle.
“Our City has lived through a modern-day pandemic, demonstrating great care and compassion,” adds Ben Davis, Founder and CEO of Illuminate. “We have an important lesson to share now. Lighting the Pink Triangle is an opportunity to honor history, inform the present, and shape a brighter, more equitable future.”
According to Hoodline, past iterations of the Pink Triangle consisted of around 175 bright pink tarps and two pieces of 200-foot by four-foot pink sailcloth splayed across a hillside at Twin Peaks; once completed, the geometric showcase is observable from miles away. But SF’s shelter-in-place order essentially made such a textile feat impossible for 2020.
Alas, the Pink Triangles socially responsible revival is an example of the community’s decision to continually "choose compassion over fear” when faced with uncertainty.
“Like [San Francisco Pride], the Pink Triangle encourages us to choose compassion over fear,” says Fred Lopez, Executive Director of SF Pride, in the same release “I’m very proud to continue our longstanding relationship with San Francisco’s most prominent symbol of queer resilience.”
Though Illuminate has committed to see the entire project to fruition, funds are still needed to pay for materials, staging, and the Pink Triangle’s installation itself. Currently, a GoFundMe for the initiative is raising $85K to cover upfront expenses. Nearly $24K has already been donated to the cause since the news was announced yesterday that the Pink Triangle would consist of lumens rather than seams this year. And all donations, as well, are 100 percent tax-deductible and go directly to supporting Illuminate The Pink Triangle.
Illuminate The Pink Triangle is set to debut on Saturday, June 27, at 8 p.m. at Twin Peaks and will continue shining for the following three weeks.
Related: Watch These Goats Prepare Twin Peaks For Pride's Big Pink Triangle
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SF Pride Canceled For the First Time; Organizers Promise 'Grander' Festivity In 2021
Image: Screenshot taken via Illuminate The Pink Triangle