Thought for the Day, #65

Writing this book has given me the opportunity to think about my own privileges, and that I was able to grow up relatively unscarred by my preference for my own sex.  While I take comfort in realizing that gays and lesbians are no longer persecuted the way they once were in Europe, I am also more aware of the torments that await gay men and women in the less enlightened countries of the world.  The fight for gays to live normal life persists.  I truly hope that it continues to get better for gay youth everywhere.

From Branded by the Pink Triangle, a short but effective book about the treatment of gay men in Nazi Germany, by Ken Setterington.  The quote above is from page 120.  

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If you've ever wondered, as I had, about what happened to homosexual men at the hands of the Nazis during World War II, this is the book for you.  It's a little book–about one hundred and fifty pages, including photographs and diagrams (not to mention a large font)–but a powerful one, taking the reader from "Berlin – The Homosexual Capital of Europe," prior to Hitler's rise to power, to the imprisonment of homosexuals in extermination camps, and beyond.  And it does so without resorting to generalities.  Rather, it introduces the reader to specific gay men–one of them gay and Jewish–and follows them through their trials, sparing few detail in the process.  A definite, quick, and informative read.