Paris - The memorial for long-time gay victims of the Nazi regime and all LGBTQ+ people who have been persecuted throughout history was unveiled in Paris on Saturday.

The monument is a sprawling steel star designed by French artist Jean-Luc Verna, located in the heart of Paris, in a public garden near the Bastille Plaza. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said its purpose is to fulfill its obligation to remember and combat discrimination.

"Historical recognition means saying 'has happen', 'we don't want it to happen again,'" Hidalgo said.

Verna describes a sculpture that looks like a big star wand, who is also an LGBTQ+ rights activist, said: “There is a black side before us that forces us to remember. … At some point in the day, it emits a long shadow on the ground, evoking dangerous dangers.”

The other side of the star, silver, reflects the sky. Verna said it represents "the color of time, and the sky in Paris moves as quickly as public opinion, which can change at any time."

Historians estimate that during World War II, the Nazi regime deported 5,000 to 15,000 people because they were gay.

Jacques Chirac, the first French president to admit these crimes in 2005, admitted that LGBTQ+ people have been "hunted, arrested and deported".

"Unfortunately, we didn't know that the monument will unveil in one of the worst moments we've ever experienced right now," said Jean-Luc Roméro, deputy mayor of Paris and longtime LGBTQ+ rights activist.

Romero refers to the policy of the administration of President Donald Trump, “We have never encountered this setback in the United States, what is happening to trans people.”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has issued orders to acknowledge that people are the only men or women, put trans girls and women out of women’s sports, expel trans military forces, limit federal funding to provide gender care for trans people under the age of 19, and threaten trans people under the age of 19, and threaten to provide research funding for nursing facilities. All efforts are challenged in court.

In Europe, the Hungarian Parliament passed an amendment to the Constitution this year, allowing the government to ban public events in the LGBTQ+ community, a decision that is another step for legal scholars and critics to call for populist governments to move towards authoritarianism.