Paris inaugurated Harvey Milk Place, Stonewall Place, and unveiled a plaque honoring Gilbert Baker during a Pride Month ceremony recognizing American and French LGBT rights leaders.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Fourth arrondissement Mayor Ariel Weil, Harvey Milk’s gay nephew, Stuart Milk, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski, and other French officials attended the June 19 ceremony.
Milk’s square “will be a permanent inspiration for LGBT rights activists and everyday heroes alike who are visible in their lives,” Miriam Richter, director of the Harvey Milk Foundation, said in a statement to the Bay Area Reporter.
The foundation continues to work toward social justice in the face of “rising ultra-nationalistic movements,” she continued, adding that Stuart Milk has worked in France on LGBT initiatives and events for six years and collaborated with Hidalgo for the past three years.
“Harvey’s story and courage are our prime ingredient in providing hope and inspiration to all who cherish freedom and equality,” she said.
Stuart Milk was unavailable for comment due to accepting an award in Oslo, Norway. In an email to the B.A.R., Kolakowski, who was in Paris as part of a U.S. State Department-sponsored trip, wrote that it was a moving tribute.
“Stuart Milk gave an excellent speech about the importance of Harvey Milk’s legacy,” wrote Kolakowski, who also appreciated Hidalgo recognizing “several Sisters (of Perpetual Indulgence).”
The B.A.R. also made multiple attempts for comment by Weil but was unable to receive a response by press time.
Paris is a sister city of San Francisco. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to office in the city and California when he won a seat in 1977 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Tragically, disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White assassinated him and then-mayor George Moscone in 1978.
In addition to the public square named after Milk, Paris leaders dedicated a square honoring the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, which is called Stonewall Place. A plaque was dedicated to rainbow flag co-creator Gilbert Baker. Streets were named after the late French transgender communist activist and poet Ovida Delect and gay Holocaust survivor Pierre Seel.
French Socialist Party politician Jean-Luc Romero, 12th arrondissement, proposed the renaming of the squares and streets in honor of LGBT leaders. The Paris City Council passed it unanimously.
“You always have to remember where you come from,” Romero told Têtu, France’s LGBT magazine. “For my part, I know what it is to have started my life in a country where homosexuality was criminalized, and the majority of the opinion was homophobic.”
The ceremony was held several days before the Pride Fortnight Fest, leading up to Paris Pride, June 29, and ahead of Stonewall 50 World Pride this weekend in New York City.
Rainbow history in Paris streets
More tributes are planned for Paris streets in the neighborhood to commemorate Yves Saint-Laurent, Bernard-Marie Koltès, Marielle Franco, Cleews Vellay, Edith Thomas, Madeleine Pelletier, Alan Turing, Marguerite Huré, Thérèse Pierre, and James Baldwin.
“Paris’ elected officials view Paris as having a major role in being a leader in promoting diversity and LGBT recognition,” wrote Kolakowski. “Mayor Hidalgo spoke about Paris being a sanctuary and a center for LGBT people.
“This hasn’t always been the case,” she added.
Since 2014, more than 40 places have been renamed in districts throughout the City of Lights to honor LGBT historical figures, starting with gay French men Bruno Lenoir and Jean Diot, the last two men known to have been sentenced to death due to homosexuality, reported Paris.fr.
“Commemorative street naming has recognized numerous heroes for a long time but choosing LGBTQI figures was a recent reflex that both Paris and San Francisco had at the very same moment,” noted Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, the gay consul-general of the French Consulate of the Northwest in San Francisco, in a statement to the B.A.R. “It is another evidence that the two sister cities share the same values and walk hand in hand ahead of their time. The greatest LGBTQI advocates are now recognized as true heroes alongside other historical and recognized figures. It’s a great achievement!”
In light of Paris honoring Milk and Baker, some have suggested San Francisco return the favor by naming a street or creating a plaque to commemorate gay French philosopher Michel Foucault.
Foucault was well-known in San Francisco, having spent time in the city where, among other things, he frequented South of Market’s leather bars.
Foucault died of AIDS in 1984 at the age of 57.
Lebrun-Damiens thought the idea of a plaque honoring Foucault would strengthen the Paris-San Francisco connection.
“Michel Foucault traveled frequently to San Francisco, a city that marked his personality and where many intellectuals built on his philosophy,” Lebrun-Damiens said in a statement to the B.A.R. “A plaque would make people aware of this other great connection between Paris and San Francisco.”
Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp: 415-517-7239, or Skype: heather.cassell or oitwnews@gmail.com.
