PARIS (AP) — A memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ+ people persecuted throughout history has been unveiled in Paris on Saturday.
The monument, a massive steel star designed by French artist Jean-Luc Verna, is located at the heart of Paris, in public gardens close to the Bastille Plaza. It aims to fulfill a duty to remember and to fight discrimination, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said.
“Historical recognition means saying ‘this happened’ and ‘we don’t want it to happen again,’” Hidalgo said.
Describing the sculpture that looks like a big star wand lying on the ground, Verna, a visual artist who also is a LGBTQ+ rights activist, said : “There’s a black side in front of us, forcing us to remember. ... At certain times of the day, it casts a long shadow on the ground, evoking the dangers looming over, sadly.”
The other side of the star, silvery, reflects the sky. It represents “the color of time passing, with the Paris sky moving as quickly as public opinion, which can change at any moment," Verna said.
Historians estimate between 5,000 and 15,000 people were deported throughout Europe by the Nazi regime during World War II because they were gay.
Jacques Chirac in 2005 was the first president in France to recognize these crimes, acknowledging LGBTQ+ people have been “hunted down, arrested and deported.”
Jean-Luc Roméro, deputy mayor of Paris and a longtime LGBTQ+ rights activist, said “we didn’t know, unfortunately, that this monument would be inaugurated at one of the worst moments we’re going through right now."
Referring to policies of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Romero said “we’ve never experienced such setback in the United States, with what’s happening to trans people.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has issued orders to recognize people as being only man or woman, keep transgender girls and women out of sports competitions for women, oust transgender military troops, restrict federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19 and threaten research funding for institutions that provide the care. All the efforts are being challenged in court.
In Europe, Hungary’s parliament passed this year an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities, a decision that legal scholars and critics have called another step toward authoritarianism by the populist government.
French artist Jean-Luc Verna, center, poses with performers during the inauguration of his sculpture, a memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ+ people persecuted throughout history, in Paris, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
French artist Jean-Luc Verna, center, poses with performers during the inauguration of his sculpture, a memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ+ people persecuted throughout history, in Paris, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
French artist Jean-Luc Verna speaks to media during the inauguration of his sculpture, a memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ+ people persecuted throughout history, in Paris, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — By the time Phil Mickelson reached the 18th green at Oakmont on Friday evening, the once-packed grandstand was maybe a quarter-full. Same for the luxury suites.
There was no grand gesture as the 54-year-old Mickelson loped up the hill. No wave to the crowd the way Arnold Palmer did in the same spot on the same course 31 years ago. No lengthy standing ovation from the gallery in return either.
The man whose decades-long pursuit of the U.S. Open made him a fan favorite in his prime — not unlike Palmer in some ways — instead quietly marked his ball 16 feet from the hole, then walked over to the far edge of the green and stared at the leaderboard that glowed in the rainy twilight.
A birdie would have let Mickelson stick around for the weekend at his 34th — and perhaps last — trip to the national championship. Wearing a white hat featuring the logo of his LIV Golf team, the HyFlyers GC, Mickelson stood over the line trying to get the right read.
When the putt slid a foot left of the hole to keep Mickelson one outside the cut at plus-8, a small groan arose from those who stuck around. There was a shout or two of “We love you Phil!” Along the railing, a man leaned toward a friend and said, "His exemption is done. No more U.S. Open for you Phil.”
Maybe, maybe not.
The five-year exemption into the tournament that Mickelson received when he captured the 2021 PGA Championship is expiring. Whether he'll be back to make a run at the one major that has eluded him is anyone's guess.
Mickelson sure isn't saying. He politely declined to talk to reporters after emerging from the scoring area, disappearing into the clubhouse and an uncertain future at a tournament where he's been a runner-up six times.
There are a number of ways for Mickelson to make it to Shinnecock next June. The USGA could offer him an exemption, as it did at Torrey Pines in 2020, though that doesn't appear to be USGA chief championship officer John Bodenhamer's first choice.
“I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he’d tell you the same thing,” Bodenhamer said Wednesday. "That’s what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn’t put it past him.”
Mickelson became the oldest major champion ever when he triumphed at Kiawah in 2021 at age 50. A lot has happened since then. Both on the course and off it.
The man known universally as “Lefty” played a major role in LIV Golf's rise, a move that has taken a bit of the shine off of his popularity back home.
And while Mickelson's game can still show flashes — he really did knock a sideways flop shot into the hole during a LIV event last week in Virginia — and he looks fitter now than he did two decades ago, the reality is the swashbuckling approach that once endeared him to so many doesn't work that much anymore at the U.S. Open.
Mickelson appeared to be in solid position to play the weekend when he stood on the 15th tee. He even on the day and 4 over for the tournament, well inside the cutline. A tee shot into the ankle deep rough at the 489-yard par 4 led to double bogey.
He still seemed to be OK when he got to 17, a short uphill par 4. His tee shot sailed into the rough above a greenside bunker. There would be no magic this time. His attempted flop splashed into the sand instead. He blasted out to 25 feet and three-putted for another double bogey.
That put him in a position he's been familiar with for a long time: heading to 18 at the U.S. Open needing to make a birdie of consequence. It didn't happen. And as he disappeared into the clubhouse, along with it came the realization that at this point, it likely never will.
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Phil Mickelson watches his tee shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
