New Paris Monument Honors Gay Victims of Nazis
The double-sided star represents the persecution of LGBTQ people, and how easily attitudes can shift in a negative direction.
A monument honoring the gay victims of the Nazi regime — as well as all LGBTQ people who have been persecuted throughout history — was recently unveiled in Paris.
Designed by French artist Jean-Luc Verna, the monument consists of a massive steel star, dark on one side and reflective silver on the other. It’s embedded in the public gardens close to the Bastille Plaza.
Verna, an LGBTQ activist, commented on the monument’s color scheme, noting that “there’s a black side in front of us, forcing us to remember…. At certain times of the day, it casts a long shadow on the ground, evoking the dangers looming over, sadly.”
The silver-colored side of the monument represents the present, “with colors from the weather and the sky of Paris that change as fast as public opinion can turn backwards,” Verna continued.
Under the Nazi regime, 17 million people were systematically killed, including over six million Jews, hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, and thousands of LGBTQ individuals.
An estimated 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality in Nazi Germany, with 50,000 sentenced for their crimes and somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 sent to concentration camps, including an estimated 60 to 200 French citizens.
Former French President Jacques Chirac was France’s first leader to recognize the Nazi regime’s persecution of gay men and LBGTQ individuals, noting that across Europe they were “hunted down, arrested, and deported.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo addressed efforts to erase the LGBTQ victims of persecution from the history books in remarks at the monument’s inauguration ceremony.
“Recognition means saying ‘This happened’ and saying ‘We don’t want this to happen again,'” she said. Hidalgo said there is still an “obligation to fight against denial and mitigation” and noted that there “are, today, extremely dangerous, strong, opposing winds that would like to deny the diversity of the victims.”
“We didn’t know, unfortunately, that this monument would be inaugurated at one of the worst moments we’re going through right now,” said Deputy Mayor of Paris Jean-Luc Roméro, about the timing of the monument’s unveiling. “We’ve never experienced such setback in the United States, with what’s happening to trans people.”
During his second term, President Donald Trump has issued orders dictating that the United States will only recognize two sexes — male or female — as valid, has attempted to expel transgender troops from the military, and has sought to ban transgender women from competing in female-designated sports, among other anti-LGBTQ initiatives.
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