On Thursday, November 9, 2022, the Law Commission of the National Assembly adopted a bill to enshrine abortion (Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy) in the constitution. While we are pleased that such a provision can be protected by our constitution, we strongly denounce the amendment N° CL16, brought by the Renaissance deputy, Aurore Bergé, which excludes trans men, non-binary people and intersex people, in general any person who can bear a child, but who does not have a female civil status.
From a general text "No one may be deprived of the right to an abortion", which insisted on the unconditional fundamental liberty of such a right, we thus move to "No woman may be deprived of the right to an abortion". This amendment, by conditioning a primordial human right on a civil status box, is unbelievably violent. By claiming to protect the right to abortion, it creates a zone of no rights for a whole category of the population: trans men, non-binary people and intersex people...
There is no debate, only facts: trans men, non-binary people or intersex people can have a uterus, bear children, or terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Respect for their gender self-determination is a fundamental human right and therefore abortion must be accessible to everyone regardless of gender identity.
Aurore Bergé and the deputies of the presidential party, after having excluded trans people from the right of access to MAP (Medically Assisted Reproduction), illustrate themselves again with a fundamentally transphobic bill. Let us recall that this amendment was proposed following the meeting of the deputy Aurore Bergé with figures of the anti-trans movement, supported by the extreme right. It is inadmissible that a member of the majority of the Parliament should endorse and, moreover, publicly support such an ideology. Let's remember that transphobia is a crime1.
At a time when our society is going through a serious social crisis, when hard-won human rights are being challenged, and when trans and intersex people are insulted, denigrated and discriminated against on a daily basis in access to health care, housing and work, it is urgent to build a feminist response and to mobilize in defense of reproductive rights.
We, anti-discrimination associations, are deeply concerned about this historic setback. We call on all associations / collectives / pride marches / LGBTQI+ centers / public and political figures to mobilize and follow our call to rally in front of their city hall and to question their local elected officials.
This Friday, November 18 at 7pm, let's gather for trans and intersex rights, and to support abortion rights for all.
Pride Marseille warmly thanks all the groups, associations, structures and personalities who have co-signed this press release: Fierté Marseille Organisation ; ACGLSF ; Act Up-Paris ; Association MANOSQUEER ; Association T-Time ; Association TRANSAT ; Bi'Cause ; Centre lgbtqi+ Paris-ÎdF ; Collectif Archives LGBTQl+ ; Collectif IDEM ; Collectif Qoeur Qoeur ; Coming out ; Commission LGBTI+ d'EELV ; Contact 13 ; Couleurs Gaies ; DramaQueer FC ; Fédération Sportive LGBT+ ; Pride Pas-de-Calais ; Inter-LGBT; Jean-Luc Romero-Michel - Deputy Mayor of Paris ; Laurence Vanceunebrock - Member of Parliament ; Les Assises Lesbiennes de Marseille ; Les Sœurs de la Perpétuelle Indulgence Couvent des Chênaies " Mission des Cagoles " ; NOSIG - Centre lgbtqi+ de Nantes ; Rainbhôpital ; Rando's Provence ; Séropotes ; Stop Homophobie ; Strass - Syndicat du Travail Sexuel ; Théo Challande Névoret - Deputy Mayor of Marseille.
On this World AIDS Day, Pride Marseille would like to remind you that serophobia still exists in our society, including within our own community.
Indeed, serophobia still strikes insidiously on a daily basis: whether it is the refusal of care or services, the clichés on dating apps ("are you clean?" implies that a person living with HIV is "dirty") or a disturbing lack of knowledge among general practitioners about PrEp1, Pride Marseille would like to see discriminating behaviors linked to real or supposed HIV status condemned, punished and erased once and for all.
Pride Marseille reminds us that people who are under anti-HIV treatment and whose viral load is undetectable cannot transmit the virus. The tools are there and research is progressing, but the response of the public authorities is still not sufficient to curb this pandemic: 680,000 people died of AIDS in 2020 and more than 1.5 million people were infected that same year2.
Pride Marseille emphasizes that inequality of access to care has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the supply of antiviral treatments in sub-Saharan Africa. We remind the state that it is our duty of solidarity to help all populations, including the most vulnerable.
Pride Marseille wishes to reiterate its demands and its full support for associations fighting against HIV:
Acting with migrant populations (maintaining and respecting the law against the expulsion of sick foreigners).
Acting against discrimination and LGBTI phobias which are the bedrock of epidemics in a society where "diversity" and seropositivity are still factors of rejection.
Advocating for the right of people living with HIV to insurance and bank loans.
Acting for equal access to care in the free environment and in prison.
Campaigning for the preservation and the acquisition of new rights, particularly in terms of access to treatment (free care to avoid a two-tier system).
Advocating for an increase in the French government's financial commitment to the fight against AIDS in developing countries.
Transforming society through new methods of prevention adapted to each sexuality, personality and environment.
Transforming society through research that enables the diagnosis and validation of new approaches.
Transforming society through awareness campaigns aimed at the most vulnerable populations and at the general public.
Pride Marseille would like to highlight the initiative of the city of Marseille this December 1 which consists of offering a free rapid screening test along with an awareness campaign on the square in front of City Hall. However, Pride Marseille also reminds us that there are 650,000 fewer screening tests performed in 20203 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the public authorities must treat both pandemics equally with an unparalleled mobilization, for the final goal of an AIDS-free world.
1 Pre-exposure prophylaxis, preventive treatment against infection) 2 Figures available on UNAIDS. 3 Figures available on SIDACTION.
With the theme "always too much", Pride Marseille's Steering Committee wanted to make visible the labels we are given. These markers of our many identities lead to discrimination and systemic violence. This is why we are asking for indispensable societal and legal advances.
These labels we are stuck with
This year, Pride Marseille wanted to highlight the labels that are too often attached to LGBTI+ communities in order to re-evaluate their impact and their legitimacy. We inevitably heard that our community was often "always too much": "too big", "too racialized", "too trans", "too dyke", "too fag", "too queer", “too old”, “too HIV-positive”… Our community is often criticized for being “always too loud” during Pride Month: we would always be too present in the media, always too extravagant, always too proud. We would do "too much" for "not so much". Pride Marseille would like to pay tribute to all those who are described as "always too much"because these labels are markers among others of our many identities, and they also lead to systemic discrimination and violence. This is why we are asking the public authorities for the societal and legal advances that are essential for our peers.
Still too many casualties
Following the lockdowns, it is common to believe that victims of LGBTIphobia have been sheltered. In reality, violence is not restricted to the public space. It is often in the private sphere and with the most intimate people that LGBTI+ people are at risk. The lockdown period has meant slow agony, especially for the youngest among us. Having to hide one's sexual orientation or gender identity from those closest to us has become even more impossible, even more unbearable.
We stand in solidarity with all the families of the victims of the past year, but we have a special thought for Luna, a young trans high school student who died in Lille, in mid-December, at the age of 17. We ask the whole educational system to use the first names of trans people, whatever the type of school they attend. The administrative heaviness can and must be bypassed, as the survival of these students sometimes depends on it. This demand goes hand in hand with a continuous training of all educational staff on the subject of LGBTIphobia. The existing systems are still in their infancy and the precious work of volunteers from associations cannot replace the permanent inclusion of these subjects in teachers training.
In recent years, new voices have been heard, those of the victims of conversion therapy, often hidden behind the name of "spiritual retreats", "love learning". In certain private schools, or even behind parallel medical specialties run by charlatans... they hide a terrible reality: fanatics and ideologues of all persuasions believe that it is possible to change sexual orientation or to restrict gender identity. No one will be able to dictate who we are: we therefore ask the political majority to ban conversion therapy. We will be adamant on this! The existing legal arsenal is not the firm and logical response to what is no longer an epiphenomenon in France. A bill from MP Laurence Vanceunebrock exists. It is time for parliamentarians to seize it.
Finally, while we welcome the measures taken by the municipality in May 2021 on the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, we must point out that the promise of the creation of an LGBTI+ Center in Marseille has still not been fulfilled. We know that political time is long, but the time of the victims cannot be shortened. We therefore ask this promise not to be a recurring issue: Marseille must be provided with all possible means to help the associations on the ground.
We also ask that all elected officials of the territory denounce all forms of LGBTIphobia that are brought to their attention and in particular in their respective administrations: the public service must be exemplary. We also want our elected officials to imagine policies to fight against LGBTIphobia across the board: people who are discriminated against do not care about the administrative divisions of the State.
Still too much insecurity
The protection and recognition of all by the state and institutions must be unconditional. "Liberty, equality and fraternity" must no longer be mere words. However, the precariousness of many people indicates the contrary.
We demand the access to health care and to medical follow-up to be possible for all, regardless of HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identity, real or supposed origin, territory or profession. Discrimination is the bedrock of STIs, HIV and hepatitis, which are still too often faced by LGBTI+, migrant and sex worker populations. Prevention and protection policies are often inaccessible to the at-risk population. We demand unconditional and facilitated access for all to risk reduction measures, to means of protection, to contraception and to screening. These changes must be accompanied by the implementation of a social and protection policy for sex workers. We demand that the state and the territorial institutions work together to fight against exploitation, forced labor and trafficking, with a particular attention paid to people with foreign origins or in irregular situations. We ask the state to repeal the law of April 13, 2016, which prohibits the purchase of sexual acts and participates in the precariousness of sex workers.
We also demand the regularization of all LGBTI+ asylum seekers. At a time when the European Union declares itself a zone of freedom for LGBTI+ people, France fails to welcome people being persecuted in their country because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. France also fails to officially denounce countries where repression continues to be organized.
This two-speed recognition of the realities of LGBTI+ people across borders has consequences on homoparental families and contributes to making their daily life precarious. We therefore ask for the transcription of civil status for children born abroad by MAP. It is unthinkable that French law separates children from their parents and complicates any administrative or legal act for the mere reason of not wanting to recognize these new families. For the same reasons, we ask for the automatic recognition of the second parent during a MAP, as well as a real reform of filiation separating the notions of father and mother from biology and taking into account transparent and homoparental families.
Precariousness can establish itself on LGBTI+ populations of all ages, and our seniors are also victims of it in many ways. Thus, we call for a rethinking of the guardianship system, which is designed primarily to protect assets and not individuals. This accentuates the loss of autonomy and is felt as the implementation of an additional dependence imposed by the person who is supposed to protect. In the same spirit, the weakening of LGBTI+ elderly people is achieved through the denial of their affective or gender identity when they are in specialized structures. Thus, we demand the creation of specialized habitats for LGBTI+ seniors who wish to live their identity and sexuality without criticism or judgment.
Still too much... control
If France is a state of law, it also has duties. The Constitution ensures that equality before the law is the same for all citizens without distinction. Today, the established system goes against these fundamental principles: the state still exerts too much control over the bodies of our community.
We demand that France put an end to non-consensual mutilation and hormonal "treatments" on newborns and young intersex children. While the National Assembly rejected an amendment to the bioethics law that went in this direction, the French state was called to order by the UN in 2016, as well as by the European Court of Human Rights for "torture" and "infantile mutilations". Five years later, these calls to order still have not been followed by changes in the law. This is not worthy of a country that claims to be democratic.
We also call for an end to the psychiatric treatment of trans people in medical transition. Access to medicalized transition pathways must be done without any validation or diagnostic procedures and on the basis of informed consent, for trans people of all ages. The bodies and identities of trans people should not be at the mercy of conglomerates of doctors, especially self-proclaimed experts in the field of psychiatry, who deny the freedom to choose one's practitioner. In matters of medical and administrative transition, self-determination must be the rule.
We ask for a free procedure of change of mention of "sex", accessible on simple declaration. We also ask for the rewriting of the circular of 2016 on the change of first name, as well as the explicit recognition in the Law of the gender identity of non-binary persons. In the long term, we want the removal of the mention of "sex" from civil status.
We wish to reiterate the need to repeal the prohibition of purchase of sexual acts of the law of April 13, 2016 and all forms of repression that would reinforce the situation of precariousness and health distress of sex workers. We demand the implementation of a social and protection policy for SWs by fighting against exploitation, forced labor and trafficking, with special attention to foreign and/or illegal persons.
We simply ask that our bodies belong to us. We want the creation of procedures to make gamete donation more accessible, to allow self-preservation of oocytes, not to make partner consent mandatory, and to lift the ban on double gamete donation. We demand that trans men and non-binary people, lesbians and single women have access to medically assisted reproduction. We demand the opening of MAP, with 100% reimbursement, for everyone, regardless of family status or gender identity. We also demand the possibility to choose and to have access to matching during MAP, as well as specific recruitment campaigns for non-white donors in MAP centers to make waiting times more equal.
Never too much!
Yes, today we affirm it and we claim it: it is no longer serious to be always too fag, racialized, queer, androgynous, seropositive, dyke, old or trans... These insults we're being stuck with must be our strength and a part of our many identities. Today, more than ever in this period where ideologues of all sides wish to divide us, we need all of those who are "always too much". We need all of those who believe in equal rights and in social justice. Tomorrow, we will fight for all the victims, for all of those who need it, with all the strength and all the pedagogy livening us up. Because, if we may be "always too much", we will never be too many to carry out our fights.
Pride Marseille 2021 demands:
An immediate end to non-consensual mutilation and hormonal treatments of intersex children and adolescents.
An end to the psychiatric treatment of the transition process of trans people.
A diversion program of the procedure of change of the mention "sex".
A rewriting of the 2016 first name change circular.
The use of the correct first name of trans people throughout the school life of the students concerned.
Continuous training of all educational staff on LGBTIphobia, in collaboration with the relevant associations.
Immediate, unconditional regularization of all LGBTI+ migrants without any "verification survey"
A public health policy for risk reduction related to STIs and drug use for all people concerned.
Access for all, regardless of gender identity and family situation to MAP and gamete donation and conversation techniques.
A reform separating filiation from biology, and the automatic recognition of the second parent in case of MAP.
The transcription of civil status for children born abroad by MAP.
A repeal of the prohibition on the purchase of sex acts from the Act of April 13, 2016.
The implementation of a social and protection policy for SWs.
Respect for the choices of senior citizens concerning the end of their life.
The reworking of the guardianship and curatorship system.
An explicit legislation for prohibiting conversion therapies.
The creation of an LGBTI+ center in Marseille.
That the elected officials of the territory take clear positions against all forms of LGBTIphobia.
The commitment of the territory's elected officials to an ambitious and transversal policy against LGBTIphobia.
Finally, we ask our communities to be aware of and fight against all forms of discrimination within the said communities.
The 28ème Pride Marseille will take place from June 24 to July 3, 2021. This dossier tells the story of how the associations in the area and the Pride team decided to denounce the norms and how they arrived at the slogan "ALWAYS TOO MUCH".
Make the standards move!
The years go by and the statistics fall. Assaults, kids being kicked out, name calling, and sometimes murder are still part of our daily landscape. Every year, we wonder if we will be able to get rid of these ignominies. Certainly, the law is advancing: decriminalization, de-psychiatry, marriage, the right to family... but there is still work to be done on PMA, on transparency and on the family. Certainly the daily life of many members of our community is better and some of us feel good in the Society. However, many young people in the community are still committing suicide, transgender people are struggling to make their transition and explain, coming out is still difficult, many feel suffering in this heteronormative world that leaves little room for difference. Insults are still hurled at those who do not fit in.
If the law is our best shield, it is not enough. It is the norms that we must change because they are the ones that shape the Other's view. And it is in this gaze, in this Other that our construction and our identity are forged. That's what Pride is all about: To make the norms move by questioning the Society. It is necessary to reflect, to question the standards which dictate our glance and our actions and thus to go beyond the conventions. In addition to its role of advocacy, its role of making the action of associations visible, its role of promoting the LGBTI+ culture, the team of the Pride Marseille wished to move the lines, to question these standards by denouncing the labels they produce.
Still too much
"Too masculine", "too effeminate", "too crazy", "too dyke" but also "too whorey", "too big-se", "too black-e". This "too much." refers to a frame of reference that the members of our community do not wish to see imposed on them. That of heterosexuality, that of masculinity, femininity, gender binarity and the gender roles that accompany it. These codes are the ones that lead to the labels that we are stuck with and inevitably to the insults and prejudices that still too often lead to discrimination and aggressions. These are the labels that prevent us from living freely in the public space, from building ourselves in our families, from being visible in the world of work and in society in general. This is what our motto "Still too much"denounces this year: This heavy framework that only makes sense for the majority. This same majority that forgets the less visible, the minorities.
In a changing society, who else but our LGBTI+ community can come and question the norms related to sexuality, family models, bodies or gender? Those who describe the Pride marchesas simple festive (or vulgar, depending on who is speaking) events, miss out on all the work that goes into a rich militant program, for which the Pride Marseille is recognized. The purpose of this reflection and the resulting programming is to propose an activist reflection in the hope that it will feed the societal debates. The LGBTI+ Pride events are the main tool of our community to challenge the public beyond the demands for equal rights. They are the political spearhead of our community to question what seems to be established and set in stone.
Feminism and masculinity
Homosexual struggles, which later became LGBTI+, only really began to have an impact on history in the second half of the 20th century, while important traces of feminism appeared as early as the Enlightenment. These movements have been advancing ever since by breaking down the social hierarchy of the sexes. They have led to a situation that has clearly improved in our Western societies for women. However, feminicides, harassment, the place of women in the world of work, in the domestic space, in our own associations show us that these fights are far from being completed and need to exist in order to break down the still numerous barriers. It is a question of rebalancing the Rights and of establishing equality in reality and not only in the laws. It is indeed a question of societal norms. However, the feminist movements, whose struggles are nevertheless marked by macabre figures, are still struggling to make these last lines move.
The solution would not come then from men themselves, because it is well on the education of our small boys that rests the hope of a society whose circle of considerations would be wider and especially more appeased. If the women have for a long time reflected on their condition, the condition of the men, it, under cover of the obviousness, is not often called into question. Men, by their dominant position, have indeed no reason to question it or even simply to reflect on it. However, as Elisabeth Badinter has pointed out, to be a man is said more readily in the imperative than in the indicative. "Be a man, a real man" does not have a female equivalent. The imperative, in fact, implies that this is not self-evident. The man in our cultures as in many civilizations is exhorted to prove his masculinity in particular in his youth. These proofs, such as rites of passage in certain cultures, or sports for example in our contemporary and Western lifestyles, are omnipresent. It also appears that masculinity is constructed through negation. To be "a real man"Not to be a baby, not to be a woman or a homosexual,boys must often go through a form of struggle against femininity. We know from Erick Erickson, since 1950, that the acquisition of a social identity passes by the difference as much as by the resemblance but is this relation by the exclusion and the negation not more differential in the boys than in the girls?
Doesn't the denigration of women and so-called feminine values simply come from education and the social construction that we make of gender? Thus, wouldn't the reflection around masculinity be the main key to solve the problems of sexism? Our theme aims to bring you further...
How not to talk about gender?
Our detractors will still incriminate us by denouncing our obsession with the question of gender and our rejection of biological determinism. We could reply, as Elisabeth de Fontenay did, that it is the singularity of the human being to refuse to be bound by biological fatality!One could also answer them that gender is everywhere and especially that it is institutionalized by the State itself, from birth. Isn't this assignment itself an obsession aiming at locking individuals into a binary conception? Worse, doesn't this gender assignment assign us to a different destiny depending on whether we are a man or a woman? Statistically, the answer is implacable.
LGBTI+ movements do not deny male or female genders, nor anatomical realities. They defend a more nuanced vision of the concept of gender, built on an identity construction that relegates anatomy to the background: gender is a social and cultural construction, and therefore evolves according to time and place. As for anatomy, so much argued by the conservatives, we know since 150 AD, by Galen of Pergamon that the two sexes belong to a common anatomy. Even our anatomy is not so clear-cut! We are convinced that gender is only a social construction. We are the ones who make our little girls and boys.
The issue of trans-identity challenges the relevance of birth assignment and our peremptory and binary conception of gender. We want to question what seems immutable as our community has always done. We want to shed light on the darkest places of our unconscious that perpetuate the most devastating stereotypes for our children. This reflection inevitably raises the fragility of the binary model of our cultures. Even psychoanalysts, in their time, introduced that femininity and masculinity were only a question of proportion and that they were subject to considerable variations from one individual to another.
...or rather its stereotypes
It is not so much the gender that is questioned as the stereotypes and gender roles. It is thus well the conditioning related to education and the hierarchy which it implies which is called into question. The debate is about innate versus acquired, each giving one more importance than the other. Does a little boy like to fight, does he like blue because he is a little boy or because we have been passing on to him for so many generations that he will only be a little boy because he will follow these exhortations. To begin to answer this, we could recall that at the beginning of the century blue was the color of girls and pink was the color of boys... It's all a question of norms!
Beyond gender, it is the inegalitarian norms that are linked to it and that concern us. The defense of the irreducibility of the masculine and the feminine is acceptable if it is not linked to inequality, in rights, in visibility and in daily reality.
Our community itself encourages stereotypes by sometimes valuing hyper-virilization, denigrating and censoring the feminization of some men and vice versa for women. The reluctance of some people to share cruising spots, dating apps or bathrooms with transgender people is an example that is still too often encountered. Let's never forget that this discomfort, this hatred is also intra-community. Concerning hatred, the words of Otto Weininger call out to us: "we love in others what we would like to be, we hate what we would not like to be". Thus, we only hate what we are close to(and that we want to avoid)and the other is in this case only a revealer. This is true in our community as it is in countless other matters.
What if we talked about bodies?
How finally, after having evoked all these subjects, not to speak about the bodies. These bodies which by nature offer to the other what we are and give to the other this illegitimate right to judge it. The body of the woman first, in the public space, often judged, commented, insulted. Transgender bodies, queer bodies, all those who do not clearly respond to the norm, to the appearance that society assigns to us are constantly insulted.
The bodies are the pretext for insults, permanently subjected to the judgment of the other, to his gaze. The body is the receptacle of all the violence that it is suggested, verbal or too frequently physical. While the body is the most personal thing we have, it is the object of incessant assaults which, when they reach us, are often the most painful and inflict the deepest scars. For our transgender, non-binary and intersex brothers and sisters, the first assault is that of birth assignment, which is the mother of all future violence. Violence that can only be reduced if society, the legislator and the medical world accept, collectively, that this assignment "initial" is not an absolute truth and is not set in stone.
The norms of femininity, masculinity, bodies and gender are the source of discrimination. Our community by definition is often outside these models. Our will is not to deny these norms in which, moreover, many people find themselves. Our will is to question them and to open these norms to other possibilities. We have shown that we can achieve other models of love and family. Our will is that each and everyone can be free. That's why we wanted to create a series of podcasts this year that questioned some of these norms. Our communication campaign focuses on the consequences of these norms and on the labels that we put up with and that we find so difficult to remove. As for the associations, they propose exhibitions, screenings and conferences that question the standards. It is now up to you to question yourself and your own view, your stereotypes and the norms you impose on the Other.
The first and second rounds of the Regional Elections will be held on June 20th and 27th.
PRIDE MARSEILLE is in essence apartisan. It has worked and will always work with all elected democrats and republicans, whatever their political color, as long as they defend the values of living together and the rights of LGBTI+ people.
However, there are some "red lines" that we cannot accept, in particular that of the questioning of fundamental rights and that which would lead our associations to no longer be able to act correctly against discrimination and, in fact, to invisibilize those among us who need it the most, in particular the most precarious people in our community.
Faced with a worrying and unprecedented political situation in the Provence-Alps-Côte d'Azur region, Pride Marseille is once again forced to come out of its reserve. It urges voters, especially those from our community, to carefully consider the meaning they are about to give to their anger, and to carefully consider their votes.
PRIDE MARSEILLE would like to remind you of the recent remarks made by Mr. Thierry Mariani about the LGBTI+ community:
On June 03, 2021, Thierry Mariani was a guest of the " 8h30 of France Info" . To the journalist who asked him "You're not going to cut grants to LGBT organizations in your Region?"Mr. Mariani replied: "I'm all for there being no discrimination, but I'm also against there being any promotion of any community whatsoever." To the reporter who asked him again, he said: "There is no reason for me to cut grants for associations if they fight against discrimination. On the other hand, if it's subsidies to fight for some kind of promotion of certain communities, whether it's the one you mentioned, or whether it's other communities, I was going to say of foreign origin, then yes we will cut the subsidies.".
Similarly, during the debate of the Regional elections broadcast on France 3 Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur theLast June 9, on the subject of the subsidies granted to the LGBTI+ Pride events, Thierry Mariani declared, very embarrassed: "I reassure you that we will fund people or associations that do not necessarily share our opinions.
We would like to remind you that the work of our associations is neither communitarianism, nor lobbying, nor proselytizing:
We are not advocating for any additional rights, we want equal rights.
We are not advocating for a privileged place but for inclusion. We want our society to make room for all of us around the table, regardless of our differences.
We militate for living together and for our gender identity and sexual orientation not to be elements of precarity or discrimination.
We want to make it clear that being a lesbian, gay, bi, trans or intersex person is not an opinion, let alone a choice. And even if it were a choice, we believe that each of us is free to love without risking insult, mockery or violence.
We would also like to remind you that PRIDE MARSEILLE and the LGBTI+ associations are not in any way involved in "promotion"We do not act as lobbyists to defend a particular interest or to preserve privileges, a term that we find very badly used against us by a politician in the middle of an election campaign. We do not act as lobbyists to defend a particular interest or to preserve privileges. Our activists work voluntarily and daily to improve the living conditions of LGBTI+ people: talking about "promotion" is a misunderstanding and a denial of the exemplary fieldwork of our peers.
Make the choice of National Gathering and the list carried by Thierry Mariani, it is to make a choice which opposes all the values and all the fights which are carried by the LGBTI+ community.
Make the choice of National Gathering and the list carried by Thierry Mariani is to accept to entrust our region for the next 6 years to elected officials who deny and reject our struggles, our demands, and the work of our associations for "to make Society".
For all these reasons, PRIDE MARSEILLE is exceptionally coming out of its reserve and calling on the voters of the Region Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur to go massively to the polls on June 20th and 27th, to measure the stakes of this election, and to vote for the lists which carry the values of living together and of the Republic.
THE PRIDE MARCH WILL TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2021
The Pride March will close 10 days of events such as a Opening nightmany festive and militant events labelled under the name of PrideWeeka Pride Festival and like last year, digitalized events with a show and a novelty: the production of 5 podcasts.
Like most event organizers around the world, the team of volunteers at the Pride Marseille has not had much visibility since it has been working on the implementation of its 2021 project.
We worked on two main areas:
To make the LGBTI+ community of our territory walk again in the streets of Marseille (Marche des Fiertés).
Maintain a digitalization of our events by giving it more depth this year.
THE FESTIVAL OF THE PRIDES
In addition to these objectives, we are committed to programming the Pride Festival but its realization remains very uncertain at this time. We have studied the possibility of carrying out tests at the entrance. We reduced the capacity to 1,500 people, reorganized the festival to limit the concentration of people while ensuring the economic balance of the project despite a capacity divided by five!
To date, in standing configuration, we still do not know precisely the constraints that will be imposed on us in less than two months.
These constraints have significant financial and human impacts and although all options have been studied with the utmost rigor and presented for several weeks to the ARS, the Prefecture, the Municipality and the Ministry, we do not know if we will be able to propose the Pride Festival this year.
We also do not know if these measures will be known in a reasonable time frame to allow us to adapt the event.
In any case, the most likely option will be a festival limited to 1,500 people, in front of the Palais Longchamp (unlike 2019 and 2016 when it was located in the upper part of the Park).
The level of security since the Nice attack (2016) and the new health constraints impose a level of skills that is increasingly incompatible with the association's exclusively volunteer resources Pride Marseille Organization. Only hard work and the desire to offer a safe and quality event allow us to face these difficulties. The office of the association would like to thank and highlight the dedication of this small team of about ten people.
THE PODCASTS
The Pride Marseille wished, this year, to put back at the center of its action an important element, that of the questioning of civil society and the LGBTI+ community on major societal issues. Who else but our community can question issues of gender, sexuality and norms?
The Pride Marseille wishes to contribute to the evolution of norms and fight against stereotypes and sexism at the origin of all discriminations. We will therefore produce 5 podcasts around our motto "Always too much", on social injunctions and norms, with personalities recognized in their field of expertise. These podcasts will be broadcast from July 3, 2021. They will talk about norms in masculinity, on bodies, in sexuality, and they will address the issues of intersectionality and Chemsex.
THE PRIDEWEEK
The Pride Marseille proposes in partnership with associations and businesses 10 days of militant events,cultural and festive events. Exhibitions, a big movie night, conferences will be proposed during the PrideWeek. This year again we are renewing our partnership with the bookshops of the region to make LGBTI+ literature more visible. The novelty this year lies in the music with a big conference on the precursory role of LGBTI+ in the musical currents and the classical music which we will put in the middle of the inauguration evening with as theme the invisibility of the women composers and the gender of the instruments.
THE PRIDE MARCH
Finally the Pride March will come to close these festive and militant days to mark our claims and exist once in the year in the public space of the city.
Pride is the one day of the year when we can march with our heads held high and without fear of aggression, joined by our allies and all those who defend our rights.
The only day!
This year, although the devices will be adapted to the sanitary conditions with a single lead tank and limited sound, the Pride March will be present in the streets of Marseille. Maybe less festive, but more demanding, like a return to the roots of LGBTI+ struggles.
This year, the Pride Marseille will be as follows:
Thursday, June 24, 2021 - Opening night of the Pride Marseille 2021
From June 24 to July 3 - PrideWeek (activist, cultural and festive week)
1erJuly 2 and 3, 2021 - Pride Festival (to be confirmed)
Release date to come - Virtual Pride online
Release date to come - Podcasts around the theme "Still too much"
These are the words of the aggressors of two lesbians in Angers, at the beginning of the year, during a rally of the Manif Pour Tous.
This coalition would like us to believe, for many years, that it is the fervent defender of a traditional family model, all without homophobia, without lesbophobia, without transphobia... It is a lie: this obscurantist movement allows the free expression of LGBT-phobic people who persist in denying our existence, our plural families, our acquired and future rights
These people wish to continue their procrastination in the public space during the weekend of January 30 and 31, because the draft bioethics law, of which access to PMA for all is a central element, will be examined in the Senate from February 2. These undignified gatherings wish to oppose a societal will without appeal (65 % of respondents adhere to the opening of PMA to all women, IFOP poll 13/09/2019) and the democratic parliamentary calendar.
"Our families have no less values than yours."
If we have confidence in the allied elected officials to finally bring this bill to term, it is necessary to underline that nothing is yet decided. Thus, we recall that we ask for the extension of the PMA to all women alone or in couple but also to the trans men deprived once again of their freedom to dispose of their body, and that this one is reimbursed at 100 %.
We want the automatic recognition of the second parent in case of PMA because the absence of extension of common law is necessarily a discrimination. Today in France, some parents have to adopt their own children: it is an aberration as well as a humiliation.
PRIDE MARSEILLE is once again committed to the equality of all people with regard to medically assisted reproduction techniques, without conditions of marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, and wants to reaffirm its fight against the enemies who deny our existence.
This first Saturday of July, we are sad but we also want to be bearers of hope and proposals.
This afternoon, the PRIDE MARSEILLE will not walk in the streets of our city. The pandemic has led to the postponement of our program (from August 28 to September 5) and the cancellation of the Walk and the Pride Festival which were originally scheduled for this weekend.
In this particular context, we are nevertheless proud and mobilized for the future of our diverse community.
In the context of the municipal and metropolitan elections, PRIDE MARSEILLE wishes to send a constructive message and especially to remind what are the necessary and minimum axes of a policy of LGBTQI+ inclusion at the level of a City Hall.
The policy we want can be summarized around 4 essential axes. In our opinion, they must be initiated and implemented within the first 100 days of the mandate:
1 - Visibility
We are waiting for the 1era The City's Magistrate is a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion, particularly for LGBTQI+ people. This commitment requires sending strong signals:
A systematic speaking when cases of LGBT-phobic discrimination and violence occur.
A visible support to the PRIDE MARSEILLE.
A policy of inclusion carried by all sector town halls and in all neighborhoods.
A policy discourse focusing on minorities, inclusion and community healthThis is the first of a series of documents that have been developed with the associations and that will set the course for the 6 years of the mandate.
2 - Setting an example
The City Council, like the Metropolis, are first and foremost two institutions with a large number of employees. Like any company, they must have an adapted human resources policy with regard to CSR and inclusion.
Implementation of a 0 tolerance policy by HRD and DGS on LGBT-phobic language, innuendo and other manifestations within the departments.
Setting up a policy committed to diversity and inclusion, with the signing of a commitment charter.
Training inclusion and diversity of officers and department heads.
Training of civil servants on the topics of trans-identity.
The Town Hall must be spearhead and must federate the other institutions in its general policy (Prefecture, Police Prefecture, Rectorate, AP-HM, cultural institutions, groups of leaders, citizen collectives... etc.)
3 - A co-construction with the associations
The City Council and the Metropolis must support the local associative fabric which has the expertise and legitimacy for many actions. The City Council must be in permanent contact with the associations of the territory to be the most precise and relevant in its answers.
To encourage the implementation, by the actors of the associative fabric, of a LGBTQI+ Center visible in the city, which is intended to be an important tool of the diversity policy.
Logistical and financial support as well as expertise for associations.
Building a comprehensive diversity and community health policy in consultation with associations (education, security, fight against discrimination, solidarity, tourism, events, etc.)
Setting up a collaborative follow-up of the City's policy on LGBTQI+ issues (regular meetings with actors, elected officials and staff in charge of these issues).
4 - An ambition
As with many issues, the elected officials of the City of Marseille have lacked ambition and vision for our city. We hope that the future municipality will be visionary and more ambitious so that Marseille will not only be inclusive for its inhabitants but will also be recognized for its international diversity policy.
A real ambition to promote the visibility of the PRIDE MARSEILLE in France and abroad.
Creation of an LGBTQI+ Center that is both invested in all neighborhoods in the territory, but also engaged and involved in national and international initiatives.
That elected officials carry messages of diversity and equality at the national and international levels. the demands of our community to contribute to the advancement of our societies.
That the inclusion and diversity policy be more transversal and complements other themes such as education, tourism, economy... as other committed political institutions and many companies active in CSR already do.
The implementation of the policy "Marseille without AIDS".
A policy to support the opening of businesses and the development of LGBT-friendly tourismThe project is based on the implementation of a training program for staff (hotels, restaurants, etc.), a welcome charter and an LGBT-Friendly label.
The PRIDE MARSEILLE teams and the associations of the Inter-Associative and Commercial Steering Committee are at the disposal of future elected officials to come and build the actions of this policy.
The purpose of this document is not to detail the content of the actions but rather to lay the foundation and structure of a general policy that is supportive and fair to our community.
This first Saturday of July, the PRIDE MARSEILLE does not show its Pride in the street but it mobilizes at your side. It marches for an inclusive city, welcoming and open to diversity.
At the end of the 2ème In the run-up to the municipal elections and before the City Council meeting that will designate its mayor, Marseille is at a turning point in its history. With the news of the withdrawal of Martine Vassal, candidate The Republicansfor Guy Teissier, Member of Parliament for the 6ème district of Bouches-du-Rhône, PRIDE MARSEILLE launches a solemn appeal to all the elected members of the City Council.
PRIDE MARSEILLE is in essence apartisan. It has worked and will always work with all elected Democrats and Republicans, regardless of their political color, as long as they defend the values of living together and the rights of LGBTQI+ people.
However, there are some "red lines" that we cannot let pass, in particular that of the questioning of fundamental rights and that of the negotiations with the National Gathering.
The presence in this election of Valérie Boyer, deputy of the 1era The fact that he was elected to the Bouches-du-Rhône constituency as spokesperson was a strong signal that was understood by our entire community. His positions and his involvement in the Manif Pour Tous were known at both the national and local levels.
Tonight, the nomination of Guy Teissier, leads us to come out of our reserve. We cannot remain silent!
The lack of media coverage of Guy Teissier's positions leads us to enlighten our community on the background and the words of the man who replaces Martine Vassal and who claims to become Mayor of Marseille.
The following items are brought to the attention of City Councillors:
Guy Teissier began his political career in the extreme right-wing group "Nationalist Union.
In 2011, he was one of 80 House members and 113 Senators who demanded the removal of textbooks addressing sexual orientation and gender identity.
In 2013, at the time a UMP deputy, he voted against the Marriage for all.
In 2017, he was a signatory, along with Valérie Boyer, of a bill associating child pornography and Marriage for all. Here is an excerpt from that text: "Better protection of the child is possible: first of all by the transposition of international texts, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Hague Convention on Adoption as well as the European directives, in particular the one on child pornography. Secondly and correlatively, by correcting the inconsistencies in our law, which are due, for example, to the fact that same-sex marriage was misplaced in the civil code."
Finally, in 2014, Guy Teissier was sued for some of his extreme positions, more precisely, he was sued for defamation for his comments on the dirtiness of Marseille and his "Africanization"assumed.
Marseille needs a mayor who is worthy and exemplary in both his or her words and actions.
For all these reasons, PRIDE MARSEILLE is exceptionally coming out of its reserve and calling on all elected officials of the City Council, those who refuse the stigmatization of LGBTI+ people and all minorities that make up our city, to vote for a candidate who is not tainted by the stigma of LGBTphobia.
In our April 3, 2020 release, we announced the postponement of the Pride Marseille from August 28 to September 5, while specifying that these dates remained "however hypothetical in the current context" and that in "depending on the evolution of this crisis"we were not "unfortunately not able to guarantee that they can be maintained".
At its last meeting, after a long year of mobilization, work and organization, the Inter-Association and Business Steering Committee decided, with much bitterness, to modify the programming of the Pride Marseille and to cancel the 2020 edition of the Pride March and Festival.
Nevertheless, the Pride Marseille will take place from August 28 to September 5, around an alternative programming and the PrideWeek of activist, cultural and festive events. In this particular context, the Committee has also decided to participate, on June 28, in the global mobilization of the Global Pride.
The postponement of the March and the Pride Festival to a later date was once considered too risky. The probability of an epidemic wave is higher in the fall or winter. Moreover, a new postponement would delay the organization of the 2021 edition.
Gathered in a steering committee to take this heavy responsibility, our associative partners and merchants, followed the recommendations of the association's board Pride Marseille Organization(FMO). They built their decision around the following thoughts:
- To date, the governmental recommendations are clear: large gatherings must be avoided, social distancing is recommended as well as the respect of barrier gestures. These are all elements that seem incompatible with the organization of our main events.
- We do not have sufficient visibility as to the responsibilities that would fall to us for the safety of the public. The health protocols that would be imposed on us are not yet known and our organization, based exclusively on volunteers, does not have the means, today, to guarantee the respect of these possible protocols.
- Despite the support of our institutional partners, the upcoming municipal elections increase the uncertainty of our organization. Similarly, our private partners do not have the economic strength to support us this year.
Under these conditions, despite the implementation of many alternative solutions, the Pride Marseille Organization considered that it was not reasonable to maintain these events as they were.
For several years, our professionalism and our respect for the rules of technical organization and safety have enabled us to reassure our public and private partners. This confidence, essential to the sustainability of the Pride MarseilleThis could have been jeopardized if we had persisted in maintaining a March and a Festival for which we could not guarantee the seriousness of the organization.
Finally, for the Steering Committee and for the Bureau of Pride Marseille OrganizationThe risk of creating a cluster that could lead to a wave of discrimination against our communities did not seem acceptable to us.
We would therefore like to apologize to the various artists who made up the line up of this edition, with our private service providers who, today, even more than usual needed to work, and finally with our audiences.
The Pride Marseille 2020 will therefore reinvent itself around an alternative programming that will not impose significant physical gatherings:
1 - Member of theInterPride (International Pride Coordination), the Pride Marseille invites you to participate in the June 27 global mobilization of the Global Pride. Around the theme "Exist - Persist - Resist". these 24 hours of streaming will gather more than 350,000 people from all over the world.
2 - Creation of a major communication campaign around the global theme of Global Pride. Entitled "Exist, Persist, Resist: don't forget our struggles for equal rights"This campaign will allow the Pride Marseille to invest the public space, to be visible and to carry its claims in a different but nevertheless effective way.
3 - The PrideWeek will take place from June 28 to September 5, with a program of activist events organized by our associations (exhibitions, conferences and debates, screenings, meetings, etc.) and festive events offered by our businesses.
4 - On Saturday, September 5, the Pride Marseille will offer 5 hours of live streaming programs from different places in Marseille. On this occasion, you will be invited to color Marseille with the colors of the Rainbow.
Despite the disappointment and absence of the Pride March and Festival, we are proud to offer you a quality alternative and to invest the public space in a different way. We are convinced that this choice will allow us to perpetuate the quality of organization of the Pride Marseille for 2021 and future editions.
In these troubled times, both from a health and political perspective, the Pride Marseillecalls on all the active forces of our communities to gather and unite around the militancy of our associations, around our businesses which suffer economically and which are essential links for the solidarity, prevention and socialization of our public, and around the Pride Marseillewhich is the spearhead of our mobilizations with local institutions.
Our struggles are far from over. If for many of us, daily life seems easier or more comfortable, we have to do it. "standardized"We must not forget our sisters and brothers, often in precarious situations, who are still on the sidelines of our great family. We must not forget the PMA and its access to trans people, whose adoption has been postponed again.
These communities are not in the minority, but simply invisible, even though they have laid the foundations of our struggles, and are at the origin of Stonewall and our Pride.
These invisible sisters and brothers need Pride, and all of us, to obtain the rights that are cruelly lacking and yet are the most basic.
Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Sex worker, Racialized, you who do not respond to the social injunction, to the norm, you who want to be free of your identity, of your body, you must know that with or without the March, the Pride Marseille will always be at your side to carry, proud and united, our claims and our fights.
Fierté Marseille Organisation - The Office
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