Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.371.27
Object Name
badge
Title
GAYS REFUSE CRUISE
Events
Cold War
Date
around 1980
Description
A black badge reading "GAYS REFUSE CRUISE" with a pink triangle.
Cruise refers to cruise missiles, which were a specific type of missile deployed to UK bases during the Cold War. "Refuse cruise" was a slogan associated with the anti-nuclear movement.
The pink triangle symbol was reclaimed by the gay community after originally being a symbol of persecution. The symbol originated as a pink triangle cloth patch, used to identify gay men in prisons and concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Its reclaimed use spread through the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and 1980s and is now positively associated with the wider LGBTQIA community.
