Paris gets memorial for gay victims of persecution / Photo: Kiran RIDLEY, Kiran RIDLEY - AFP
-
Manchester United rallies past Roma as PSG dominates in Champions League
-
ترامب يهنئ الديمقراطيين بعد هزيمة الجمهوريين في انتخابات التجديد النصفي
-
Qatar prime minister advances mediation through diplomatic calls
-
Qatar sees tentative opening for renewed regional diplomacy
-
Greenland parliament approves security agreement with United States
-
Qatar Tourism joins Pacific Asia Travel Association at London travel market
-
Qatar envoy meets incoming UN General Assembly president
-
Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan Senate Seat in Historic Election
-
Trump Signals Willingness to Work With Democrats After Midterm Defeat
-
Qatar media bodies discuss support for humanitarian initiatives
-
دي برومهد يفتح خياراته لـ "ذا بيغ ويسترنر" قبل عودته في ويكسفورد
-
Galloway accuser could not foresee publishing-sector fallout, lawyer argues
-
أزمة الإسكان في البرتغال: تصاعد الأسعار يعمق الانقسامات السياسية حول الحريات
-
No. 22 UCLA defeats No. 5 Arizona 84-75 despite Kharchenkov's 38 points
-
New York City Center revives In the Heights as a timely community story
-
Vessel operator seeks witnesses after Vancouver grounding
-
Godzilla Minus Zero shifts focus toward postwar human drama
-
US Air Force deploys F-16 fighters to remote Aleutian base for readiness drill
-
Mehbooba Mufti urges dialogue and renewed Central Asia links for Kashmir
-
Bezos grant helps Seattle nonprofit move thousands of families toward housing
-
Seacliff Healthcare Seeks Specialist GP in Thirroul
-
Shrini Srivastava joins crew of Varanasi-Delhi Vande Bharat Sleeper service
-
US stocks fall before midterm Election Day as technology shares weaken
-
Nearly Half of Australian Workers Overqualified, Survey Finds
-
BLS Polymers makes strong market debut at ₹248 per share
Paris gets memorial for gay victims of persecution
The city of Paris on Saturday inaugurated a memorial dedicated to people persecuted for being homosexual during the Second World War but also "throughout history", mayor Anne Hidalgo said.
The three-ton installation was erected near the Bastille in central Paris to mark International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
"Recognition means to say 'this happened' and to say 'we don't want this to happen again'," Hidalgo said.
"We must fight against denial and trivialisation," she said, adding: "Today there are powerful and extremely dangerous headwinds that would like to deny this kind of diversity."
The monument, by artist Jean-Luc Verna, consists of an large star-shaped structure made of steel.
Unlike cities like Sydney, Barcelona or Amsterdam, Paris rejected incorporating the yellow star that Nazis made Jews wear in the installation.
This, officials said, was to allow current victims of persecution to be included in the tribute.
"It is important that this memorial be not just a simple symbolic tribute, but a transmission tool, a public act of recognition and a space for questions about past discriminations but also those that continue today," said Jean-Baptiste Trieu, president of the "Les Oublie.es de la mémoire" association that fights against discrimination of LGBTQ+ people.
"Rights are never won forever," he said.
Artist Verna said that downward facing black side of the star represents "the burned bodies, the mourning but also the shadow, warning us that these things can happen again".
The upward side, mirroring the sky, "represents the present, with the colours of passing time and the sky over Paris that changes as quickly as public opinion can turn", he said.
According to historians' estimates, between 5,000 and 15,000 people in Europe were sent to concentration camps during World War II by the Nazi government for being homosexual.
Figures for France alone range from around 60 to around 200.
After decades of near-silence surrounding such persecutions in wartime France, former prime minister Lionel Jospin publicly addressed the issue in 2001, launching a process of recognition that was continued by former president Jacques Chirac.
S.Barghouti--SF-PST
