175er

Definition

Or: 175-er : dialectical term of reference, in the gay community, for a male homosexual, based on Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code of the 1930s and 1940s condemning homosexuality. Homosexual prisoners in Nazi concentration camp were identified by symbols or numbers and in the first years of the camps a large 175 was painted on the back of homosexuals; it was later replaced with a pink triangle which has also been revived as a contemporary symbol of homosexuality.