The PS mayor of Pantin, city of Seine-Saint-Denis will symbolically change its name in 2023. An “e” will be added to the giant letters that adorn the city, becoming “Pantine”.
The city of Pantin, located in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, has been the subject of many comments since the announcement of the PS mayor of the city to rename the city, at the beginning of January. During Bertrand Kern’s traditional wishes to the Pantinoises and Pantinois shared on Twitter, he announced that for one year, the name of the city would change gender, now called Pantine.
A provocative and calculated political decision, the aim being to highlight the fight against gender inequalities and the fight against gender-based violence. Tweets from the official account, usually with little commentary, exploded under the video announcing the decision, with more than 1,400 reactions on Wednesday. On the website of the city, it is specified that this “addition of the letter “e” to the name of the city may seem anecdotal”, but this change “causes each and everyone to reflect on the place of women in society and more generally on the question of equality”. Some left-wing elected officials welcomed the approach, such as Clémentine Autain, LFI deputy for Seine de Denis. At the microphone of LCIshe boasted “a mayor who wanted to highlight gender equality, it touches me” she reacted.
On the side of the opposition, the decision does not pass. It is also on Twitter that Geoffrey Carvalhinho, elected LR of the city, denounced a decision taken unilaterally, because “was not voted on by the municipal council” according to the elected official, a process which he considered “scandalous”. Criticisms swept away by Bertrand Kern: “It’s funny because it was the opposition that proposed to the municipal council in December to make the year 2023, the year of equality between women and men”, he defended himself on RTL this January 4, 2023. The left-wing mayor also added that when sending his greeting cards to the municipal councillors, he had signed Pantine, no offense was heard.
A name change of the city, really?
More than a simple “com coup” according to the mayor; this temporary change, is not really one. The city’s communication service has confirmed to AFP that there will be no change in the city’s signs, nor any changes in official letters. On the other hand, the giant letters that adorn the city will be assigned an additional “e”; moreover, during certain events organized by the city, it will be the name “Pantine” which will be put forward.
This is a symbolic decision and not a real change of name, which could not have taken place without the agreement of the Ministry of Territorial Communities. From December 3 to 10, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport was renamed Paris-Anne de Gaulle to fight against the exclusion of people with disabilities. The President’s daughter was a carrier of trisomy 21.