United Nations Holocaust Memorial Day 2011

The Jewish Holocaust Centre held a commemoration ceremony for United Nations Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 2011. I was invited to light a candle to honour the memory of the homosexual victims of the Holocaust.

The Jewish Holocaust Centre invited me to their United Nations Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration ceremony on January 27 2011 to light a candle in memory of the homosexual victims of the Holocaust.  Many thousands of homosexual and bisexual men were captured and murdered by the Nazis simply for the crime of expressing their love for other men.  I attended the ceremony with my partner Gregory.

Michael Barnett lighting a candle at the 2011 UNHMD Commemoration Ceremory
Michael Barnett lighting a candle at the 2011 UNHMD Commemoration Ceremory

This is the second time in recent years, to the best of my knowledge, that the JHC has included a representative of the GLBT community to participate in their UNHMD ceremony.  I was similarly invited a few years back for their ceremony at the JHC premises in Elsternwick.  It was a genuine honour to have been able to participate in both.

Audience at the 2011 UNHMD Commemoration Ceremony
Audience at the 2011 UNHMD Commemoration Ceremony

Take a few moments to read the page in the JHC newsletter and view the photos from the ceremony.  Think about the genocidal hate in this world that is perpetrated and the people who are needlessly killed because of it.  Also think about the people who say they won’t stand for any intolerance against homosexual men and women and yet continue to perpetrate the intolerance themselves.

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