Pink triangle rises again as symbol of pride for LGBT community

Stuart Rosenstein doesn’t usually get up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to come to Twin Peaks in San Francisco.

But this weekend, the Santa Cruz resident felt a call of duty. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and joined more than 200 other volunteers to install, for the 22nd time, the pink triangle — an emblem that represents the years of discrimination and physical attacks that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has endured throughout history.

This year’s installation was different and had two underlying themes: President Trump and resistance.

“It’s very ironic that we are putting up a pink triangle as we are headed into a dark space for the LGBT community,” Rosenstein, 55, said. “It scares me to death. I do have to go back to my old closeted thoughts. Is it safe to hold hands in a particular space?”

The pink triangle was first used by the Nazis during the Holocaust in concentration camps to identify LGBT prisoners, but has since been reclaimed by the LGBT community as a symbol of pride, said Patrick Carney, who hoisted the first pink triangle atop Twin Peaks in the dead of night in 1995.

From center left: Oscar Padilla embraces Todd Iceton after installing the Pink Triangle at Twin Peaks on Saturday, June 24, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. The Pink Triangle is a remembrance of the years of discrimination and physical attacks on the LGBT community. less From center left: Oscar Padilla embraces Todd Iceton after installing the Pink Triangle at Twin Peaks on Saturday, June 24, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. The Pink Triangle is a remembrance of the years of ... more Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 64 Caption Close Pink triangle rises again as symbol of pride for LGBT community 1 / 64 Back to Gallery

“I said, ‘There’s a blank canvas up there at Twin Peaks.’ So we went to Home Depot and got about eight to 10 others to help us paint it,” Carney said of the first installation.

Fast-forward two decades. The triangle has grown to 1 acre in size, requires 175 pink tarps and can be seen for 20 miles, Carney said. The triangle will be brought down Sunday evening at the end of Pride weekend.

Volunteers on Saturday had on white T-shirts with a pink triangle and the words “Friends of the Pink Triangle” in pink letters. Hammers were strewn about as people finished setting up under the haze of the San Francisco fog and snacked on doughnuts and croissants.

Not far away, the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Band rehearsed, the melodic sounds of the trumpets and clarinets traveling through the area. They took the stage to perform Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Some people had on rainbow socks, rainbow hats and rainbow belts with pink balloons, carrying flowers in hand as bubbles floated in the air.

Shortly after the volunteers completed their morning duties, Hannah Portner, 17, of Walnut Creek took a seat atop the triangle.

She pulled out paintbrushes and started mixing her watercolor paints. She opened her sketchbook and began painting the triangle and city view.

It was also Portner’s first year participating in the installation.

“It was on my bucket list,” she said, brushing back her pink and blue hair from her eyes while she pulled out a black notebook from a paint-stained backpack.

Under numerous pages titled “Life Goals,” Portner checked off the item she had scribbled down years before: to partake in the pink triangle’s assembling.

Also written down in her hopes for the future, “Donald Trump becomes good.”

This year’s installation had a clear message for the man in the White House, Carney said.

At night, the triangle will be illuminated by a projector with videos of people’s lips blowing kisses to the world, a showing of love, Carney said.

“All of the joy of the last few years has been diminished by the current administration,” Carney said. “We don’t know what to expect. I want the man to see we are in resist mode.”

That sentiment was echoed throughout the pink triangle dedication ceremony, which included speeches by state Sen. Scott Wiener, Assemblyman David Chiu and other San Francisco politicians.

As Chiu held his baby son in his arms, he reassured the crowd of people gathered that the support for the LGBT community wouldn’t waver.

That commitment was reinforced by Wiener as he took the podium.

Trump “has allowed us to embrace and remember our core California values,” Wiener said, citing support for immigrant rights, the LGBT community, women and health care.

“These are American values, and we are going to prevail in the end,” Wiener added.

For Rosenstein, a future filled with fear was looming. And while he said he feels like he needs to “double think” about how he acts in public, events like this restore his faith.

“It’s a message of hope,” Rosenstein said of the pink triangle. “For me, it’s a message of celebration, not just acceptance and tolerance.”

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani