Paris honors LGBTQ trailblazers with new street and square names

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots, Paris has renamed three squares and one street to honor key LGBTQ figures.

One of the newly renamed spaces is Stonewall Riots Square, commemorating the historic 1969 uprising in response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village.

Another square is now dedicated to Ovida Delect, a French transgender poet and Communist who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp for her role in the French Resistance during World War II.

The third square is named after Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, who was tragically assassinated while serving as a San Francisco supervisor.

Paris renamed a street in honor of Pierre Seel, a gay Holocaust survivor who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for his sexuality and later became a passionate activist.

This initiative follows a 2017 report by activist and politician Jean-Luc Romero-Michel, which suggested 52 actions, including renaming landmarks, to transform Paris into the global hub for LGBTIQ rights and inclusive tourism.

In the 4th arrondissement of Paris, plaques displaying the new names were revealed in a ceremony on June 19.

In Stonewall Riots Square, a plaque was unveiled to honor Gilbert Baker, the American artist and LGBTQ activist who created the iconic rainbow flag.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo celebrated on Instagram, saying, 'With the inauguration of Harvey Milk Square, Ovida Delect Square, Stonewall Riots Square, and Pierre Seel Street, Paris honors all LGBTQI+ activists. #ParisIsProud and always will be!'

Guillaume Melanie, co-president of LGBTQ charity Urgence Homophobie, shared a video of the unveiling of the Harvey Milk sign, praising Paris as a model for honoring historical LGBTI figures. 'A significant step forward,' he wrote.

Earlier this year, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to honor transgender activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with statues in Greenwich Village for their pivotal roles in the Stonewall uprising.