Fifty-four years ago, the first Pride March took place in New York, one year after the Stonewall riots. In Paris, the march, previously called “Gay Pride,” will take place on June 29 in a climate of concern about the increase in homophobia in France and the decline in LGBTQI rights, a concern that has been heightened since the results of the European elections and on the eve of the first round of the legislative elections.
The American site LGBTQI Them mentions several demonstrations for the rights of trans people in Paris, as well as in Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, and in the Belgian cities of Brussels and Liège, in May 2024. They brought together more than 10,000 participants and 800 associations concerned about a bill, adopted by the Senate on May 28, limiting access to puberty blockers and medical transition for minors. According to the Equaldex ranking, cited by Them, “France ranks 20th for queer and trans rights in the world, ahead of the United States (27th) and the United Kingdom (28th), but behind other European nations such as Spain (6th) and Germany (11th).”
PinkNews, a UK-based LGBTQI media outlet, discusses the “terror” LGBTQI people in France feel because of the current political climate. In 2022, they had already stood up to the opposition, and “then, as is still the case today, the fight against the far right was seen as a battle for the future of LGBTQ+ rights.”
Elli Tessier, a 28-year-old non-binary energy engineer, fears “a complete disaster for trans people, because the Terf [‘trans-exclusionary radical feminists’, designates a transphobic movement] movement in France is rather close to the extreme right”, in addition to even more systematic attacks against the entire community and in particular racialized people.
Every year for more than twenty years, the month of June, declared “pride month”, has been the occasion for numerous LGBTQI demonstrations but also the moment to take stock of the advances and setbacks of rights around the world.
This article is originally published on fr.news.yahoo.com
