The Senate largely rejected Thursday a text banning bullfighting shows for minors under 16, at the end of a debate which revived divisions between protectors of local traditions and defenders of the animal cause. Some intended to protect children from scenes “traumatic”the others feared “death” of bullfighting in France… And it was the latter who won their case in the upper house, with a rejection voted by 237 votes to 64, in a sparse hemicycle. A far from unexpected outcome in the “chamber of territories”dominated by the right and the centrists. Especially since the government was also unfavorable to this proposal, like most of the communist group and half of the socialist group.
The text of Macronist senator Samantha Cazebonne intended to prohibit the organization of bullfight shows in the presence of children under 16, in the name of the “child protection”. “Is it acceptable for minors to witness the suffering of a living being, while their understanding of the values of compassion and kindness is still being formed? We have a duty to protect their innocence.”launched the author of the text. The latter had received in recent days the support of numerous elected officials, the SPA and anti-corrida associations and collectives, who took up the tabling of this bill to raise awareness of «dangers» of these shows for minors. “Adults standing up and applauding the blood is an important symbolism. And the responsibility of adults is to protect children.said ecologist Guillaume Gontard.
A highly sensitive debate
But the camp of defenders of bullfighting was also widely supported, with significant media coverage in areas where bullfighting remains a “uninterrupted local tradition”the only ones where this practice is still authorized as a derogation. The Union of French Bullfighting Cities (UVTF) had thus multiplied initiatives to denounce this text which it considers to be “an unprecedented attack” towards bullfighting. Arguments taken up very widely on the benches of the Senate. “If you wanted to divide us from north to south, you wouldn’t have done it any other way”launched Senator LR from Gard Laurent Burgoa. “Let us respect our identities, respect our culture and let parents choose to pass it on!”
The Minister of Justice Didier Migaud had a more legal reading of this proposal, which he considered disproportionate. “The State must not intervene (on parental authority) otherwise it will appear paternalistic, even invasive, and ultimately disempower parents”he justified. The sanctions provided for by the text, which can go up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros, were also highlighted, as was the accountability of the organizers more than of the minors or the families themselves. “Sanking a show organizer for the presence of a young person in the audience is completely inconsistent”noted Louis Vogel (Horizons), rapporteur on this text.
Several voices also feared local economic repercussions. “Depriving families who wish to go there of shows, sometimes out of passion, but also simply out of curiosity or to form an opinion, also means depriving these areas of a particular attractiveness”noted the communist Cécile Cukierman. But the debates went well beyond the aspect of child protection, with some elected officials accusing the authors of the text of having “real target” the bullfight itself. “More skillfully than by advocating a total ban, (this text) pursues the same aims: to prevent any transmission to younger generations and therefore condemn bullfighting to certain death”said LR senator of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Max Brisson. A sign of the sensitivity of the debate, the discussion took place two years after the shortened examination of another text from the related LFI deputy Aymeric Caron, who wanted to completely ban bullfighting. The National Assembly had never voted on this bill.
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