Gay and Lesbian Memorial

Gay and Lesbian Memorial, originally uploaded by skee zix.

We almost didn't visit this interesting memorial, located just across the street from the Holocaust Memorial. There is no large marker telling what it is, and the memorial doesn't show up on any of our tourist guides. The small description sign located just in front of it is in German and English and describes how gays and lesbians were targeted and murdered by the Third Reich and how important it is that we remember their particular sufferings.

As we approached the memorial itself, three German teenagers were looking at it, giggling and commenting on how funny it was. It clearly made them uncomfortable, just as it would make many American teenagers (and adults) uncomfortable. Inside the large metal structure, which looks like a chunk of stone cut into an angular boxy shape, is a moving picture projected on the back wall. It is silent. Two men embrace, then kiss. The kiss is intimate and involves their mouths and lips entirely. It is sexual, sensual, perhaps even provocative. Then the man on the left leans over to the other man's right ear and whispers something which we cannot hear. Then he touches the man on the right's arm, they embrace, and again begin kissing. The film loops again and again. Endlessly.