Paris unveils a memorial to LGBTQ+ victims of Nazi regime and other persecutions
PARIS — 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.
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Washington Post
7 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Doechii's closing WorldPride set ended a tense weekend on a high note
Nightclubs. Karaoke spots. House party living rooms. Wedding reception halls. All fine places to dance your life away. But nothing beats the streets. Without ceilings or walls to keep the music from flying off into oblivion, we keep our dancing shoes pressed to the pavement, catching the rhythm with our bodies, circulating it among an assembly of strangers like some game of metaphysical pinball. Or at least that's what seemed to be happening smack in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue NW on Sunday evening as Doechii, the lightning-mouthed Florida rap star, delivered a galvanizing closing set at this year's WorldPride celebration in Washington — a boisterous affirmation of the LGBTQ+ community's perseverance and purpose that might have felt overwhelming had it not been such electric fun. This was a happy conclusion to a difficult week. WorldPride is the largest Pride Month celebration on the planet, but this year, its proximity to President Donald Trump's White House charged the festivities with tensions and safety concerns. As the Trump administration continues to erode transgender rights and dissolve diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, fearful corporate sponsors withheld their cash. On a day's notice, Shakira canceled her opening-night concert at Nationals Park, citing an insurmountable production glitch. Over the weekend, federal authorities attempted to fence off Dupont Circle Park, the center of the city's historic LGBTQ neighborhood, but the park ultimately stayed open. At least on Sunday night, without anxiety or ambiguity, Pennsylvania Avenue belonged to the people — many of them wearing colorful T-shirts adorned with even more colorful phrases that made their opposition to oppression abundantly clear. 'WorldPride 2025 is an act of resistance,' organizer Rahul Upadhyay said onstage before Doechii's set. 'This is what hope looks like. This is what family looks like.' Once Doechii appeared — frontlit in green, backlit in pink, braids swinging down to her heels — it also looked like a party. Still floating on the runaway success of her zesty 2024 album 'Alligator Bites Never Heal,' her performance landed like hard evidence of rap music's synchronizing power. When she launched into her signature tale of a stressed-out crash out, 'Denial Is a River,' fans two blocks deep in the crowd were rattling off Doechii's zigzag lyrics as if reciting a shouted prayer — 'Whoopsie! Made an oopsie! One-hundred-thousand dollar 'oops' made me loopy!' — all the way down to the panicked breathing of the song's finale. If you'd ever hoped to feel a sense of community by standing in a throng of many-thousands, pretending to hyperventilate in unified glee, here you were. 'Easy, breezy, beautiful, erratic,' Doechii rapped by way of self-description over the jazzy boom-bap of 'Boiled Peanuts,' positing herself as a stylistic heir to Missy Elliott, eager to express her messy multitudes with airlocked precision. Legible and danceable, her intentionality felt so well-suited for a celebration like this. In life writ large — which includes music-making, party-throwing, meal-making, getting dressed, sports, sex, watching television and more — spontaneity is all well and good, but sometimes being deliberate is a necessity. A party on this grand of a scale with this depth of purpose doesn't tend to erupt in the streets on a whim. As with a Doechii song, pleasure requires preparation. As for the gratitude, it flowed both ways. 'I've never felt so much love and peace from a community in my entire life,' Doechii told the crowd, catching her breath between rhyming sprints. The crowd roared. The music thundered. The people moved. Pennsylvania Avenue isn't the street the president lives on. It's a dance floor.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Judge blocks administration from enforcing anti-diversity and anti-transgender executive orders
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Community organizer, Mizzou librarian to run for Columbia City Council
The field of candidates for the Aug. 5 special election for the Ward 2 seat on the Columbia City Council is widening with the addition of Vera Elwood. Elwood, who was at the empty chair town hall on May 20, said she was running and put out an official announcement Thursday, May 22. "I am running for City Council because I love Columbia. I met my husband here. I started a family here. I found my community here. I believe that my experience in public service, knowledge of Columbia, and dedication to community involvement can help make Columbia a truly safe place for everyone," she said in the announcement. As of now, Elwood will face off against Ken Rice, who has the support of former Ward 2 council member Lisa Meyer, who resigned from the council due to health reasons. Elwood is the current chair of the city's Disabilities Commission and is a member of the city's Commission on Cultural Affairs. Her campaign tenants include "improving infrastructure, creating a safer and more welcoming city and ensuring every voice in the community is heard and uplifted," the announcement noted. She is the third generation of her family to have attended the University of Missouri and returned to the city in 2019 to raise her family. She is an foster and adoptive mother, and said she also brings lived experiences as a queer and disabled woman. "These perspectives have shaped her work leading accessibility, inclusion, and diversity trainings at libraries and organizations across the country," announcement noted. More: Ken Rice makes bid for Columbia City Council after school board loss Along with her roles on the city commissions, she also is Youth Program Coordinator at The Center Project, mid-Missouri's LGBTQ resource center, and is a union organizer with Laborers International Union of North America Local 955 and its Mizzou Workers United campaign. Elwood is a University of Missouri librarian and was able to join LiUNA 955 through that role. "My time in public service has included everything from libraries to community centers to unions to city commissions, but one thing has always remained true. The city can buy as much asphalt as it wants, but if we do not have trained and supported workers to lay it, the potholes aren't getting fixed. Our people should always be our first priority," Elwood said. She also regularly volunteers with True/False Film Fest, Unbound Book Festival, Mid-Missouri PrideFest, and the Central Missouri Humane Society. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Vera Elwood runs for Columbia Ward 2 council seat in special election
