Fun Fast Facts:
- Jean Diot and Bruno Lenoir were the last homosexuals burned to death on 6 July 1750.
- On 31 December 2004, the National Assembly approved an amendment to existing anti-discrimination legislation, making homophobic comments illegal. The maximum penalty is €45,000 fine and/or 12 months imprisonment
- The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, publicly revealed his homosexuality in 1998, before his first election in 2001.
- In March 2008, Xavier Darcos, Minister of Education, announced a policy fighting against all forms of discrimination, including homophobia, in schools, one of the first in the world.
- Same-sex marriage legislation is currently being debated.
LGBT-friendly organisation: Inter-LGBT
- Fights against discrimination based on morals, orientation or gender identity in the context of the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
- Holds a monthly council which brings together fifty associates. This allows the pooling of resources and the development of collective strategies of French LGBT movement.
- Organises LGBT Pride, Spring assoces (conference and exhibition) and other public events.
W3JOY interviewed: Sebastien Lifshitz, director of Les Invisibles
You can’t see stories anywhere in the documentaries and the press about old, gay people…I think it’s really important for everybody–gay or straight people–to know what they’ve been through, because they carry a history; a social history, but also an intimate history.
I found other gay snapshots, and every time it was the same mixture of happiness and freedom in the pictures. I was really amazed by that because the official gay story that we know is always so dramatic and difficult…but the pictures I had in front of me were telling something different. Maybe the gay story was less dramatic than we thought.
It was very eclectic ..I didn’t want to just focus on famous people, I wanted to focus on the anonymous people who had the normal, daily lives.
Even if France is an open-minded country, there are a lot of people who are traditional and conservative.
People are very curious about how it is everywhere else. How people live and love.
During the 50’s and the 60’s, older people were against the institution of marriage because for them it was a symbol of tradition and what they were fighting against. They wanted to be different…Gays of today, they want to be like everyone else….but back then it was completely a different story.
Published on: March 11, 2013 @ 2:54
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:58 — 32.0MB)