Activist collectives, left-wing elected officials, trade unionists, young people… Several thousand people demonstrated this Sunday in France where around fifty rallies were planned to denounce the “transphobic offensive” underway, according to them, against the rights of trans people . In Paris, several thousand people gathered at Place de la République at the start of the afternoon, according to the organizers. The Ministry of the Interior totaled 10,880 demonstrators in France, including 2,500 in Paris.
“Anti-patriarchy, anti-capitalist, solidarity with trans people everywhere! » chanted participants while signs demanded “health resources for transitions”. In the middle of a crowd mainly made up of young people, an older couple struggles to make their way in the “hope of finding” their 27-year-old child “who left without leaving an address” two years ago , after his transition. “Probably because we did not understand quickly enough the suffering of inadequacy”, slip these parents who say they are “traumatized and devastated”. Refusing to give their last name, they say they “feel guilty”.
“There you go, this is our daily life”
Other gatherings took place over the weekend in 49 cities in France, notably in Lyon, Marseille or Montpellier but also in Belgium in Brussels and Liège, according to the organizers. In Montpellier, the gathering brought together between 550 people according to the organizers and 400 according to the prefecture. Sit-ins, “Trans and feminist response” banner and speeches punctuated the demonstration.
During the event, two people nearby threw small stones at some participants. “There you go, this is our daily life,” say Elsa and Anaïs, two organizers, who prefer not to reveal their last name, for fear of reprisals. “Today, there is an urgent need to defend the rights of all in a context where right-wing and far-right elected officials are attacking the rights of trans people and disclosing false information about children in a transidentity situation,” insist they.
The call for mobilization was initially launched by more than 800 collectives and personalities including Annie Ernaux, Vanessa Springora, Act Up-Paris, Family Planning, in a column published Tuesday. France Insoumise and the Socialist Party had also called for demonstrations.