Italy honors gay victims of the Holocaust

[justin899]

For the first time in its history, Italy next week will honor gays and lesbians who were persecuted and exterminated by the Nazis during World War II, reports Agence France-Presse. A plaque will be unveiled to the gay victims of the Nazis and Italy's fascist regime, during a ceremony at the site of the only death camp located on Italian soil, San Sabba near Trieste, the director of the camp's museum, Adriano Dugulin, told AFP. The plaque, which bears the inscription "Against all discrimination," will be unveiled when Italians hold their annual commemoration of the Holocaust on January 27, said Dugulin.

Lesbians and gay men from the Italian gay rights group, Arcigay, will lay a wreath of pink flowers in the shape of a triangle at the monument in remembrance of the symbol gay men were branded with when they entered the camp. The museum will host an exhibition recounting the tragedy of Italian gays through text and photographs. According to Dugulin, Italians gays "were victims of very cruel discrimination under fascism."

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