Memorial to LGBTQIA+ Victims of Persecution

On May 17, 2025 — the International Day Against Homophobia — Mayor Anne Hidalgo inaugurated France's first national memorial to homosexual deportees and to all LGBTQ people persecuted through history, in the garden along the Bassin de l'Arsenal at the foot of Place de la Bastille. Artist Jean-Luc Verna's work is a three-ton steel star lying flat on the ground — he calls it a magic wand. One face is matte black, for mourning and the victims of the past; the other is mirror-polished, reflecting the sky and whoever stands before it — the changeable present, in which rights won can still be lost. Historians estimate the Nazis deported between 5,000 and 15,000 people for homosexuality; France's own postwar laws kept punishing homosexuality until 1982. Visiting: the Jardin du Port-de-l'Arsenal is a free public garden along the marina, open daylight hours, two minutes from Bastille métro. A place for a quiet pause — see both faces of the star before you leave.