After the deterioration of the exhibition of LGBT stories in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon, the rainbow flags of the town hall of the 3rd, it is now the turn of the artistic and cultural programming of the town hall of the 9th to be the target of far-right attacks. “Until now, we were preserved in the neighborhood but I have the impression that they have scrutinized all the programs to spread their nauseating ideas”, reacts the ecologist mayor Anne Braibant. Tuesday, one week before the event, the Reconquest party! asked him, through a press release, to cancel the story-reading session for children aged 6 to 10 animated by drag, planned as part of Pride month.
“What are they getting involved in? exclaims the elected environmentalist. It is this kind of reaction that shows that it is more necessary than ever to fight against discrimination and to fight this xenophobic minority. She adds: “I maintain this performance. It’s the borough’s artistic program, it was a very good idea and it still is. These are contents adapted to the target audiences. There is nothing problematic. »
Professionals from the entertainment world for a reading session
The meeting must be held in the wedding hall, which can accommodate around sixty participants (with accompanying adults). It should last an hour and a half, snack included. The town hall asked Zanni Lalune, Max Miller and Félusine, three drag actors, to do the animation. “My job for years has been an animator,” says Félusine. A graduate of the Bafa (certificate of aptitude for the functions of animator) for five years, they are used to young audiences, “from 4 to 17 years old, from the summer camp to the leisure center through the extracurricular”, he points out, adding that he has also been a “book ambassador” for CP and CE1 classes for two years. As if they had to justify themselves, they add: “So I have an experience that can be defended in the field. “Same profile for Zanni, accustomed to” making kids laugh forever “.
The drag recall that their artistic performance consists of “reading stories”. “Like what clowns do, it’s theater suitable for young audiences. We are actors, professionals in the entertainment world. Why should we protect our children from a colorful character, with a great dress, wig, makeup and who looks like a fairy? »
Tales without gender stereotypes, “unlike the classics”
Félusine chose stories related to this imagination. “Two stories that my mother told me when I was little, he slips. We don’t come to tell them a story about gender, but through our presence, they can also understand that they can be whoever they want and be happy. Max Miller also indicates that the chosen stories are, “ unlike the classics, without sexualization and gender stereotypes”. “We open children to the culture of difference so that they can grow up with it and accept it, unlike the speeches we receive”, slips the artist.
“It’s not our side that causes fear,” adds Zanni. We’re not doing anything that’s against the law. For twenty-four hours, we have been receiving very serious insults and accusations. Next Wednesday, we will go to the town hall with a ball in our stomachs but it is out of the question that we let go and give in to these pressure shots. They want to harm our art? This makes our desire to advocate tolerance and benevolence even more legitimate. »
“If you don’t want your children to attend this reading, don’t take them”
According to the artist, the far-right party wants “simply to create a moral panic”. “If it was really the children who worried them, they wouldn’t dwell on us, but they would mobilize for their rights”. Before concluding: “If you do not want your children to attend this reading, do not take them. End of the story. »
According to Anne Braibant, “the public of the 9th is completely ready and open” for this kind of entertainment. Forty registrations had already been made. “I think we’re even going to have to turn people away with this publicity stunt,” she says.