Tens of thousands of people participated in the Pride March in Paris on Saturday. For this edition, the organizers wanted to denounce the resurgence of homophobic and transphobic violence, when six young people were arrested for attacking a young woman who was going to the demonstration.
The rainbow flags are present, the sound system and the sequins too, but the atmosphere was not always festive in the procession of this Parisian Pride March, this Saturday, June 24. ” For ten years, marriage for all. Since always, violence for all. » The banner which opens the march with the slogan chosen by the inter-LGBT+ which organizes the event, sums up the atmosphere well. Ten years after the adoption of the law on marriage for all, despite advances in the rights of LGBT + (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender) in the field of law, paradoxically the violence against them is still there.
“ The idea, says Élisa Koubi, co-president of Inter-LGBT, it is also to point out the contradiction between the pinkwashing [le fait de se donner une image engagée pour les droits LGBT+, NDLR] political and media organized around ten years of marriage for all, as if there was nothing more to do for LGBTQUIA+ people, and on the other hand, the persistence of violence. »
► To read also: Ten years of marriage for all in France: “In the eyes of the law, we have become legitimate to love each other”
The last SOS Homophobia reportpublished in May, pointed to an overall increase in acts of hatred against LGBT+ people with one physical assault every other day in 2022, an increase of 28% compared to 2021.
” I got spat on again this week »
The association particularly alerted to violence targeting transgender people, evoking a “ wave of transphobia » and reports doubled compared to 2021. ” I’m not happy to be here. I’m not proud, I’m angry, I’m angry says Iris, pointing out the multicolored crowd with the back of her hand. This rise in transphobic acts, she and her friends, all transgender, say they feel it on a daily basis. ” Me, I got spat on again this week says Doll. ” Me, I took a kick “adds Liloue, resigned, who denounces” a debate now focused around transidentity “.
Ten years ago, France opened marriage and adoption to same-sex couples, since 2022, conversion therapies have been prohibited and since 2021, access to PMA (assisted medical procreation) is open to everyone. But activists denounce the lack of progress regarding the rights of transgender people. Trans people do not have access to PMA, Élisa Koubi evokes a 2016 law on the change of civil status ” cheap », where justice still has its say, and intersex children still subjected to early operations. ” This refusal to put in place laws of inclusion leads to daily violence “, she analyzes.
But beyond that, the co-president of the inter-LGBT, says to herself ” very worried ” in front of ” a rise in LGBTphobic discourse came from reactionary groups close to the extreme right. Élisa Koubi insists on the “ responsibility of the government which, she believes, by not opposing it, ” allows discourse to become commonplace, which for some can legitimize acting out “. The activist also castigates the fact that terf activists, these controversial radical feminists who want to exclude trans people from the struggles for women’s rights, have been received by government ministers.
” No terfs in our struggles! This is precisely what is written on the sign of Charlotte, 23, in a relationship with Victoire, transgender like her. Both also describe transphobic acts “ regular », Insults, people staring at them. ” This week alone, we got mugged by someone in the street just for holding each other by the arm. We were pushed around, we were called “fag”, we were told to go get treatment… “, describes the young woman. Charlotte also says she is concerned about the “ backlash » [retour en arrière conservateur] experienced in recent months by transgender people in several American states that are multiplying anti-trans laws.
A climate of backtrack which is also felt in Europe. The NGO ILGA-Europe, which brings together more than 600 organizations in 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia, has qualified 2022 “ most violent year for LGBTQ+ people in the entire region in more than a decade », pointing “ increasingly widespread hate speech“.
” I want to give the courage to speak to all those who are attacked »
This Pride March necessarily has a special meaning for Luc Di Gallo. “ What just happened to me makes me want to assert myself even more, to say that I am proud of who I am. “, he explains. Last week, this deputy mayor of Montreuil posted on Twitter the photo of his swollen face. On the social network, he said he was the victim of a homophobic ambush on June 2 in a park in this city in eastern Paris where he had an appointment with a man met on a gay dating application. Since his public testimony, Luc Di Gallo has received numerous messages from men telling him of having experienced this kind of aggression, but without ever having dared to speak about it. “ By participating in this March, by testifying, I want to give courage to all those who are attacked, the courage to say so and to file a complaint. Then, on the other hand, I want to scare the aggressors so that they say to themselves that this kind of act can no longer take place in indifference and will not go unpunished. Because, highlights the electedthese individuals rely on a feeling of shame of people who might not dare to assert themselves and therefore file a complaint ». Through the documentary Traps, invisible crimesMediapart had revealed last April that at least 300 attacks of this type had taken place in the past five years, “ be a victim of a homophobic trap every three days in 2022 “, specified the information site.
The elected Montreuillois attempts an analysis to explain the persistence of acts perpetrated against LGBT + people. He sees in it a kind of radicalization of violence: people are undoubtedly more and more open overall and we live in an increasingly inclusive society. At the same time, the fringe that remains in rejection may tend to become radicalized “.
Several recent incidents attest to the expression of this violence in France. In May, the LGBT+ center in Nantes was the target of hate tags while the premises of the LGBT+ center in Tours were targeted by an improvised explosive device launched by a 17-year-old high school student. At the beginning of the year, it was the LGBT + center in Reunion which had been set on fire.
LGBT+ refugees on the front line
To mark this edition, the organizers had decided to open the procession with ” the most exposed and discriminated communities explains Inter-LGBT: trans people, HIV-positive people and migrants.
” Against fortress Europe, open the borders. » “ LGBT asylum seekers, asylum = necessity “, Can we read on the signs of the members of Ardhis (Association for the recognition of the rights of homosexual and trans people to immigration and residence) at the head of the march. ” We are very worried about the future law on immigration which, by blocking the way for migrants, will prevent these people from coming to France for protection or treatment by seeking asylum. “, underlines Élisa Koubi.
Stella is a lesbian, she comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. ” They say I’m a witch there. We can’t live, we’re persecuted “, she testifies. Amina is Algerian, she arrived in September 2022. Here, this young transgender woman started a “ new life but she fears she won’t be able to stay. His first asylum application was rejected. ” If I’m sent back there, they’ll kill me, or I’ll kill myself. »