Paris reveals memorial to LGBTQ victims of the Nazi regime and other persecutions

A monument to the homosexual victims of the Nazi regime and for all LGBTQ+ persecuted people throughout history has been presented in Paris on Saturday.

The monument, a huge steel star designed by the French artist Jean-Luc Verna, is in the heart of Paris, in public gardens near the Plaza de Bastille. His goal is to fulfill a duty to remember and combat discrimination, said the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

“Historical recognition means saying ‘this happened’ and ‘we don’t want it to happen again,” said Hidalgo.

Describing the sculpture that looks like a great star wand that is found on the ground, Verna, a visual artist who is also an LGBTQ+rights activist, said: “There is a black side in front of us, forcing us to remember … at certain times of the day, it throws a long shadow on the ground, evoking the dangers that loom over, sad.”

The other side of the star, silver, reflects the sky. It represents “the color of the time that passes, with the sky of Paris in motion as fast as public opinion, which can change at any time,” said Verna.

Historians estimate between 5,000 and 15,000 people were deported throughout Europe by the Nazi regime during World War II because they were homosexuals.

Jacques Chirac in 2005 was the first president in France to recognize these crimes, recognizing that LGBTQ+ people have been “hunted, arrested and deported.”

Jean-Luc Roméro, Vicealcalde de Paris and an LGBTQ+ rights activist for a long time, said: “Unfortunately, we did not know that this monument would be inaugurated in one of the worst moments that we are going through at this time.”

Referring to the policies of the administration of US President Donald Trump, Romero said that “we have never experienced such a setback in the United States, which is happening to trans people.”

Since he returned to the White House in January, Trump has issued orders to recognize people as only man or woman, to maintain transgender girls and women Out of sports competitions for women, transgender military troops, restrict federal financing to Gender care for transgender people Under 19 years and threaten research funds for institutions that provide attention. All efforts are being challenged in court.

In Europe, the Parliament of Hungary approved this year an amendment to the Constitution that allows the Government to prohibit the public events of the LGBTQ+communities, a decision that legal academics and critics have called another step towards authoritarianism by the populist government.