“L’amore vince sempre” (“Love always wins”): it was behind a banner displaying this message of unity and inclusion in the Corsican language that some 200 people marched in Bastia, north of the Corsica, Saturday June 17, for the first real Pride March organized in support of the LGBTQ community on the island.
Swept by rainbow flags, fuchsia fans and streamers, the festive procession, made up of a majority of women, set off to music and under the sun from the city’s courthouse to reach, via the old port, the main square of the second Corsican city.
“We want to walk together, so that no Corsica will ever have to choose between living life to the full, love and daily life here” on the island, repeated at the start of the first real March to “celebrate multiple identities”, the secretary of the Arcu association. In 2022, only a small gathering was held in Ajaccio, as a start.
“I created 20 years ago, in 2004, the first LGBT association in Corsica, and this is the first Gay Pride in which I participate in the island”, testified to Agence France-Presse ( AFP) Daniel Cartayrade Marchetti, 63, member of Amnesty International and representative of CGT Haute-Corse. “Corsica is finally opening up”, welcomed the member of an association for the fight against AIDS, distributing condoms and waving the red flag of the CGT, happy with the “message of great tolerance” broadcast by this event.
“Corsican society moves forward with us”
Many of the demonstrators, eyes glittering, rainbow flags painted on their cheeks or placed on their shoulders, marched applauding the onlookers sharing their enthusiasm, with cries of “Tous inseme” (“All together”).
“Liberta, love is love”, “Are you homophobic?” Stopped ! “”, “Fascista fora” (“Fascists outside”), “Trans people exist in Corsica” or “Corsica and PD and proud of it”, could be read on the signs brandished in the procession.
“I am present to meet people from the same community as me, it is very rare because generally they are hidden and it is not necessarily accepted even today. It’s nice to see that, “said AFP Léa Scialom-Lazar, a 17-year-old high school student, who came to parade to” change habits “.
“This is an opportunity to finally come together to create a space where, for once, we are not the prey of teasing, harassment, violence,” also explained Maxime Grisoni, a 26-year-old student. returned especially to Bastia for the March. “Homophobia kills,” read his placard.
The event was supported in particular by trade unions (CGT, FSU, CFDT), political parties (PCF, LFI, Libertarian Communist Union), Corsican political movements (A Manca and Inseme a Manca), anti-racist associations (Ava Basta, Human Rights League) and feminist associations (Zitelle in Zerga, Main violette Corse).
The march ended in Place Saint-Nicolas in a joyful dance session on a frenzied “Bella Ciao” and in the middle of smoke bombs releasing orange smoke. “What a nice walk!” It’s a great success, there are many of us who want to be free, to love whoever we want and to be whoever we want”, concluded Livia Casalonga, secretary of the Arcu, by launching a vibrant “Liberta”. “Corsican society is moving forward with us, the road is sometimes a bit winding but it’s nothing, it’s just a mountain village,” she added.
“A few fachos walked with us, don’t go alone, stay together so as not to spoil this beautiful moment”, she also warned, even if no notable incident punctuated the demonstration. An evening was planned in a bar in the city to continue the festivities.
