A **memorial** in tribute to the **homosexual victims** of deportation and the **LGBT+ victims** titled **”Through History”** was inaugurated on Saturday, May 17, in Paris, coinciding with the **International Day to Combat LGBTPHOBIES**.
“**Recognize it happened** and say **we don’t want it to happen again**,” said the mayor of Paris, **Anne Hidalgo**, during the inauguration. She emphasized the need to **fight against negation or attenuation**. This work is all the more **powerful** given that today, there are “**extremely dangerous winds** that would like to deny this diversity,” she added.
Designed by artist **Jean-Luc Verna**, the memorial is a massive black steel star weighing over three tons, installed in the **gardens of the Port de l’Arsenal** near **Place de la Bastille**. “The black side of the star represents the **bodies that have been charred**, symbolizing mourning. It also signifies a shadow warning us that such events can occur again,” explained the artist. “**The other side**, the mirror, reflects the present, adorned with the colors of time passing, and the **changing sky of Paris**, which evolves as swiftly as public opinion,” Verna elaborated.
Include Current Victims
Unlike monuments in **Sydney**, **Barcelona**, or **Amsterdam**, the decision to use a memorial shaped like a **pink triangle**—a symbol sewn by Nazis onto the uniforms of homosexual prisoners—was dismissed in favor of **including current victims**. “It is essential that this memorial does not serve merely as a symbolic tribute but as an act of **transmission, public recognition,** and a space for questioning both past and present discrimination,” emphasized **Jean-Baptiste Trieu**, president of the association **Les Forgotes de la Mémoire**. He insisted this space serves to “**remind us that rights are never definitively acquired, that hatred can reinvent itself, and our responsibility is to stand together**.”
Estimates suggest that between **5,000 and 15,000 individuals** were deported across Europe by the Nazi regime during World War II due to their homosexuality. For France, estimates from organizations and historians range between **sixty and 200 deported homosexual individuals**.
The inauguration of this memorial marks a significant step in the recognition of this aspect of history, which was long **overlooked**. It follows the official acknowledgment by former Prime Minister **Lionel Jospin** in 2001 and former President **Jacques Chirac** in 2005.
“**Homosexuals and lesbians in the face of Nazism**, on France 5: the long march of these forgotten deportees”