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Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris to take part in Paris Pride, defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people against a backdrop of growing popularity of the far right.
As the march set off, Alexandre Schon, co-president of Inter-LGBT, which organises the march, said: “We are just a few months away from the presidential election, so we are calling on LGBT+ people and allies to mobilize for a future based on solidarity.”
Adding: “We must stand up against the far right.”
The event, which began at Place d’Italie in the south of Paris and ended at Place de la Bastille in eastern Paris, where a concert will take place, brought together around 50 associations.
Schon expressed worry about the future of LGBTQ+ people’s rights. “We could be the next targets,” Schon added, noting that abroad, including in the United States and Senegal, the rights of LGBT+ people are “under attack.”
Multiple left-wing political figures were seen marching, including the leader of France Unbowed (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Green MP Sandrine Rousseau.
Mélenchon later took to X to call for understanding and acceptance: “Sexual orientation or the sense of belonging to a gender are not choices. As long as one hasn’t understood that, one is not a fully realized human being. Rights must follow. Gender freedom must be declarative. The process must be simplified.”
As the march continued, Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire highlighted the threats the LGBTQ+ community is still facing, saying: “LGBTQIA+ venues are still being threatened, attacked, discriminated against, subjected to violence and intimidation.”
Meanwhile, in a post on X, Grégoire urged the protection of LGBTQ+ spaces as well as bolstering the “resources of associations”.
Paris Pride, which usually takes place in June, was postponed until now due to France’s June heatwave. However, its original date is connected with the Stonewall riots, a founding mobilisation of the LGBT+ movement that took place in New York on the night of 27–28 June 1969.
Last year, the march drew 500,000 participants, according to organisers, while police reported fewer than 100,000.