Israel city unveils gay Holocaust victims memorial

Israel's cultural and financial capital unveiled a memorial today honouring gays and lesbians persecuted by the Nazis, the first specific recognition in Israel for non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Tucked away in a Tel Aviv park, a concrete, triangle- shaped plaque details the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.
It resembles the pink triangles Nazis forced gays to wear in concentration camps during World War II and states in English, Hebrew and German: "In memory of those persecuted by the Nazi regime for their sexual orientation and gender identity."
The landmark joins similar memorials in Amsterdam, Berlin, San Francisco and Sydney dedicated to gay victims of the Holocaust.

While Israel has scores of monuments for the genocide, the Tel Aviv memorial is the first that deals universally with Jewish and non-Jewish victims alike and highlights the Jewish state's rise as one of the world's most progressive countries for gay rights.
"I think in Israel today it is very important to show that a human being is a human being is a human being," Mayor Ron Huldai said at the dedication ceremony, where a rainbow flag waved alongside Israel's blue-and-white flag.
"It shows that we are not only caring for ourselves but for everybody who suffered. These are our values to see everyone as a human being."

Israel was born out of the Holocaust and its 6 million Jewish victims remains seared in the country's psyche.