Paris unveils a memorial to LGBTQ2S+ victims of Nazi regime and other persecutions

French artist Jean-Luc Verna, center, poses with performers during the inauguration of his sculpture, a memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ+ people persecuted throughout history, in Paris, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PARIS — A memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ2S+ people persecuted throughout history has been unveiled in Paris on Saturday.

The monument, a massive steel star designed by French artist Jean-Luc Verna, is located at the heart of Paris, in public gardens close to the Bastille Plaza. It aims to fulfill a duty to remember and to fight discrimination, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said.

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

Describing the sculpture that looks like a big star wand lying on the ground, Verna, a visual artist who also is a LGBTQ2S+ rights activist, said : “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 other side of the star, silvery, reflects the sky. It represents “the color of time passing, with the Paris sky moving as quickly as public opinion, which can change at any moment,” Verna said.

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

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

Jean-Luc Roméro, deputy mayor of Paris and a longtime LGBTQ2S+ rights activist, said “we didn’t know, unfortunately, that this monument would be inaugurated at one of the worst moments we’re going through right now.”

Referring to policies of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Romero said “we’ve never experienced such setback in the United States, with what’s happening to trans people.”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has issued orders to recognize people as being only man or woman, keep transgender girls and women out of sports competitions for women, oust transgender military troops, restrict federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19 and threaten research funding for institutions that provide the care. All the efforts are being challenged in court.

In Europe, Hungary’s parliament passed this year an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ2S+ communities, a decision that legal scholars and critics have called another step toward authoritarianism by the populist government.

Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press