Collectives and political, artistic, activist and intellectual personalities have called for demonstrations on Sunday, May 5, in several cities to denounce the “transphobic offensive” underway, according to them, against the rights of trans people.
In Paris, a rally is planned at Place de la République at the start of the afternoon. Other gatherings are also planned in around forty other cities, notably in Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier.
The call for mobilization was launched by more than 800 groups and personalities (Annie Ernaux, Vanessa Springora, Act Up Paris, Family Planning, etc.) in a column published Tuesday by Politis. LFI also called for people to join the rallies.
In their crosshairs and that of the demonstrators, a report on the transidentification of minors drawn up by the LR group in the Senate. Associations see in this text, which led to a bill which will be examined on May 28 in a public session, a return to conversion therapy, which its authors deny.
Senate report deemed transphobic
The associations also denounce the publication and promotion of the book Transmania, which presents itself as an “investigation into the abuses of transgender identity”. “The messages from the two authors are dangerous, we find the rhetoric that we had in the 1980s against homosexuals and which is coming back in force today against transgender people,” denounces Maxime Haes, spokesperson for Stop Homophobia.
The operator JCDecaux removed the posters promoting the book from the streets of the capital, after being questioned by Paris City Hall, which deemed them contrary to its ethics charter and apologized.
A conference in the presence of the two authors, who defend themselves against any transphobia and denounce “censorship”, is planned for Monday evening at Panthéon-Assas University at the initiative of the La Cocarde student union.
Despite calls to ban the event, the university president told Agence France-Presse that he had made the decision to keep it going “in the name of freedom of expression.” “Universities are above all places for debate and confrontation of ideas, including when ideas are debatable, or even frankly contestable,” declared Stéphane Braconnier.
“The conference will be filmed: if transphobic, discriminatory or homophobic comments were to be made, I will not hesitate for a single second to refer the matter to the public prosecutor or to initiate disciplinary proceedings,” he added.
