Station 4: Jesus meets his mother / LGBT prisoners kept in concentration camps

Jesus meets his mother and LGBT prisoners are kept in Nazi concentration camps after Allied liberation in Station 4 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button, courtesy of Believe Out Loud

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1945: Upon liberation of Nazi concentration camps by Allied forces, those interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out the full term of their sentences under Paragraph 175.
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Mini-commentary by Kittredge Cherry:

Nazis and Allies were enemies, but they agreed that homosexuals should be locked up. The Allies liberated everyone else, but kept those who wore the pink triangle in prison! In Jesus’ time Romans and Jews were enemies, but they agreed that the man who loved without limits should die. The Nazis used pink triangles to identify prisoners sent to concentration camps for homosexuality. It was part of a system of triangles labeling people they deemed “undesirable.” Originally intended as a badge of shame, the pink triangle has become a symbol of pride for the LGBT movement.

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“Stations of the Cross: The Struggle for LGBT Equality” is a new set of 14 paintings that link the crucifixion of Jesus with the history of LGBT people.

Artist Mary Button painted the LGBT Stations series for Believe Out Loud, an online network empowering Christians to work for LGBT equality. They invite churches and faith groups to download and use the images for free.

The whole series will also be shown here at the Jesus in Love Blog this week. Click here for an overview of the LGBT Stations by Kittredge Cherry, lesbian Christian author and art historian.