by Juliette Jabkhiro, Yiming Woo and Imad Creidi
PARIS (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people took part in the annual Pride march in Paris on Saturday ahead of France’s general election, as LGBT rights groups fear discrimination if a far-right government takes power in the polls.
The French go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of early legislative elections, which could bring the far-right National Rally (RN) party to power. The second round will take place on July 7.
The Interior Ministry on Friday called for increased security around LGBT events, citing an increase in discriminatory acts and “political and community antagonism” that could target such events.
In a letter to police and local authorities ahead of Pride, the largest celebration of sexual and gender minorities in France, known as LGBT, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called for security measures for the event to be adapted.
Inter-LGBT and many other groups have called for large numbers of people to march on Saturday to oppose far-right ideas and protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. The acronym refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual people, and the + symbol includes other terms related to gender and sexual identities.
The RN did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The party, which has voted against legislation granting more rights to LGBTQIA+ groups, including in the European Parliament, has previously said it has no links to violent far-right groups.
“There is an increase in hatred, messages circulating on the networks to interfere in the march,” Inter-LGBT president James Leperlier told Reuters this week.
“Since the RN’s score in the European (elections), it has contributed to the surge in this phenomenon of hate speech and taking action. Having the far right so close to power [légitime] hate speech,” he also lamented.
Drag queen Simone de Boulevard told Reuters at the Paris protest: “We are afraid, afraid for our access to health care, for our daily safety.”
“Homophobic and transphobic violence is intolerable,” she added.
(French version Claude Chendjou and Benjamin Mallet)
