A memorial honoring the gay victims of the Nazi regime was recently unveiled in Paris by all LGBTQ people persecuted throughout history.
Designed by French artist Genreque Verna, this monument consists of a huge, dark star on one side and a reflective silver on the other. It is embedded in a public garden near Bastille Plaza.
Verna, an LGBTQ activist; I commented The colour scheme of the monument says, “There is a black side in front of us, forcing us to remember… At certain times of the day, we cast a long shadow on the ground, bringing up a sad, looming danger.”
The silver side of the monument represents the present “there are Paris weather and colours from the sky that change as quickly as public opinion recedes.”
Under the Nazi regime, 17 million people were systematically killed, including over 6 million Jews, hundreds of thousands of disabled people and thousands of LGBTQ people.
An estimated 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality in Nazi Germany, 50,000 crimes were declared for crimes, and 5,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps.
Former French president Jacques Chillac was France’s first leader to acknowledge the persecution of gay men and lbgtq individuals under the Nazi regime, noting that he was “crowded, arrested and deported” across Europe.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has made an effort to eliminate persecution LGBTQ victims from history books in his 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 denial and mitigation” and that “today there is a very dangerous, strong, opposing wind that wants to deny the diversity of victims.”
“Unfortunately, we didn’t know that this monument would start at one of the worst moments we are experiencing,” said the vice mayor of Paris Jean Luc Romero about the timing of the memorial’s announcement. “We have never experienced such a set-off in the US, what’s going on with trans people.”
During the second term, President Donald Trump issued an order that only recognized two genders that the United States deemed effective, attempting to expel transgender forces from the military and ban transgender women from competing in designated sports.
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Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
