The French group has shown its support for the LGBT+ community. Participants in the show Drag Race Belgique wrote a column denouncing “the ordinary transphobia relayed by the Grand Cactus and RTBF”.
Head of the Ideas department
Published on 09/25/2024 at 11:16
Reading time: 2 min
LThe sketch broadcast during the “Grand Cactus” show continues to provoke reactions. This Wednesday morning, it was the French group Indochine, whose singer Nicola Sirkis is parodied during the sequence, who issued a press release: “The group Indochine has discovered the distressing parody video of the show The Big Cactus of RTBF and gives its full support to the LGBT+ community.
On September 19, the show aired a parody of the song 3e sex from Indochina with Damien Gillard and Cécile Giroud in the roles of Nicola Sirkis and Rahim Redcar (ex-Christine and the Queens), baptized 128e sexwhose words challenged the spectators. The two actors mocked the question of non-binarity and gender change for more than three minutes, sometimes calling themselves a “slice of sandwich bread” or a “dromedary”.
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Great emotion
The sketch caused a stir within the LGBT+ community, which accused the show of having relayed a sequence mocking the experiences of people who were already largely vulnerable. Several personalities from the community, including many artists who participated in the Drag Race Belgique show, which highlights the talents and experiences of drag performers from the LGBT+ community, vehemently denounced a sequence deemed stigmatizing and transphobic. This Tuesday, Alvilda and La Veuve, two participants, wrote a column which states that “trans identities are neither whims nor mood swings and ridiculing them is de facto discriminatory. Furthermore, Constitutional Court Order No. 99/2019 of 19/06/2019 legally recognizes people of non-binary and fluid genders.”
The Audiovisual Council, seized by a very high number of complaints, announced the opening of an investigation. Liège Pride announced on Tuesday that it had decided not to renew its media partnership with Tipik for the second edition of Liège Pride in 2025. “There is no intention to harm or disrespectfully target transgender and non-binary people. If this content offended people’s sensibilities and experiences, we regret it,” RTBF defended itself.
