French Court Rules On Infamous Gay Hate Crime Case

"Violence, cowardliness, and hate of difference all condemned by the court today" Wilfred de Bruijn wrote on Twitter this afternoon as Paris's Criminal Court announced their sentence to the four young men who beat Wilfred and his companion Olivier Couderc on their way home one cold April night last year.

The case soon became infamous when this photograph went viral on social networks, and media around the world published articles about the shocking story.

Here's What French Highschool Students Did When Anti-Gay Protesters Picketed Their "Skirt Day"

A student stands on a wall in a skirt to mock anti-equality
protesters opposite. AFP (S)

Lets stop the stupid jokes about the French "being gay", and stand up and applaud this just a minute.

"Skirt Day" is held in France every 16th May after the film by the same name. It's an opportunity for many students to denounce sexism in school, at the workplace, and sexism in general. However, needless to say, the idea of men in skirts didn't please the 'Manif Pour Tous' too much; one of the leading French anti-LGBT equality groups, or Le Figaro, the right-wing paper.

France's Far-Right Party Gains Popularity Amongst Gays

This is the Front National logo, but in rainbow colours...

Last Friday, France's Constitutional Council voted on a freedom of conscience act for French mayors who are unwilling to marry same-sex couples. The Council voted against the measure, and therefore this question can never arise again in French law. Their decision is definitive.

The very same day, Ifop released the latest survey into the growing popularity of the Front National (FN), France's far-right party. This is the party whose leader was called out by Madonna for having been to Neo-Nazi parties in Switzerland and who has trusted her party's funds in the hands of former GUD members (an extreme-right Christian student union).

However, the survey shows, yet again, that the Front National is continuing to rise in popularity amongst France's gay community.

REACTION: France Passes Equal Rights Legislation

Tuesday was the finale of an 8-month battle for equality

"For some it should have come sooner, but now it has arrived" proclaimed Jean-Christophe Testu, president of the LGBT center, Le Girofard in Bordeaux, France before a crowd of excited, emotional and relieved supporters of LGBT rights.

It's been a long and grueling road to pave for LGBT activists in the country, starting back on the 8th November 2012 and ending on Tuesday 23rd April 2013.

Tears were shed, cheers were heard and emotion filled the air in the small room of the center as onlookers watched the final vote at the National Assembly live.

FRANCE: Senate Adopts Gay Marriage Bill, Homophobia Grows

The French Senate adopted the bill last night (S)

With 179 for and 157 against, France's senate decided in the late hours of Tuesday night to pass article 1 of the equality bills that are on the table at the moment.

But all has not yet been won. Same-sex couples will be able to marry as soon as this summer, but French activists know that this is only the beginning of the end of their fight for equality. The senate is yet to adopt articles on adoption, partnership laws, and once those have passed the fight will be reignited by the demand for same-sex equality when it comes to Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP).

I've Just Been Fired... for Being Gay

And now you walk out the door, trying you're best to stay proud of who you are (S)

"So that's great! We've got the partnership with the hair salon for the association" my boyfriend says to me as we walk out into the street.

When we're in public, we hold hands. Some gays don't think that's the brightest of ideas, and there are risks involved, but I don't believe anything should stop me from holding the hand of the person I love just the way straight couples do.

Today, I'd stumble across one of those risks and fall face-flat into it. Coming up the hill on his bicycle was my boss.

The Dangers of Being an Outspoken LGBT Activist

Russia? Ukraine? Nope! France. (S)

Activism by nature, means expressing your point of view on a topic when you believe something needs to be done to protect a so-far unprotected group, whether it's the LGBT community or animals.

It's obvious that if you decide to do activism you have to expect to meet the people who are against you in your fight for equality, and these people will either stand around and have a heated debate with you in which neither side will step down, or they'll punch you in the face.

Unfortunately, the situation in France is worsening by the day. Most of the people left in the anti-equality camp are fascists.

This Week in France: Gay Rights Debate Starts in National Assembly

"Article 1 passed - Equality Moves Forward" reads a banner at a counter-protest during an anti-equality demonstration,
Saturday in Bordeaux. Source: AFP

FRANCE -- This week in France the ongoing national debate around equal marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples stepped up a gear as it came to the floor of the National Assembly. The bill, an initiative of Justice minister, Christine Taubira, is being heatedly scrutinized and eulogized by over 300 ministers and deputies as we speak, night and day, who - according to the official records - spoke over 246,000 words last weekend only; the equivalent of half of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, also a world-renowned musical.

This Week In France: Fight Continues, Antis get Angry

Xavier Bongibault, a very troubled young man, compares France to Nazi Germany at an anti-equality conference, Friday

FRANCE -- It's been a very busy week in France for both pro- and anti-equality activists with the anti-equality demonstrations around the country drawing to a close, and two weeks of equal rights rallies being planned. The last of the anti demonstrations was held last weekend (13th January) in Paris with over 340,000 demonstrators according to the police, and 800,000 according to the organizers, their discourse growing more radical in a last-ditch attempt to spread their message of hate before the bill hits the floor of the National Assembly to be voted upon at the end of the month.

"I'm 26 years old and the only thing I haven't got is my other mother's surname"

Myriam Blanc and Astrid Boekholtavec were two of the parents present at the conference

FRANCE -- "I'm 26 years old and the only thing I haven't got is my other mother's surname" says Celine before silently breaking down in tears. Sadly, an estimated 300,000 other children of gay couples in France share her story according to a study by APGL (the Association of Gay and Lesbian Parents, France).

Recently I attended a conference on adoption and same-sex parenthood in Bordeaux, France. It was an emotional evening with same-sex couples giving accounts of their experiences and the hell they have been through to have children because of the French system. The conference was also attended by other representatives of local LGBT associations, and the director of interim President, François Hollande's online election campaign, Vincent Feltesse, now the county deputy who described himself on the night as "very close to Mr. Hollande".

"Gaie Paris": The Fight for Equality Comes to the City of Love

Supporters cross a bridge by the Notre Dame
© Freedom Requires Wings

FRANCE -- Between 60,000 to 150,000 people waving rainbow flags, chanting slogans, and blowing whistles filled the Place de la Bastille, Paris, Sunday; the same square where interim president François Hollande stood not 7 months ago during his election night speech before a similar scene and assured them all the points of his program would be carried out.

Marriage equality was one of those points, making Sunday's rally the most symbolic one yet in the French fight for equal rights. The rally was to support equal marriage, adoption and Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP) bills due to be voted on in Parliament in the New Year, and to denounce the recent surge of homophobia in the country since the debate started.

60,000 people took to the streets of Paris according to police estimates, and 150,000 according to the organizers. Some papers estimated 80,000 participants, others 100,000, the numbers still unclear. In November, 70,000 anti protesters took to the same streets to protest against the bills.

Tight Security at French Marriage Equality Rally

Yes, that's me. It's on the internet. Hello Mum! © 2012 Anthony Rojo

FRANCE -- "Those people at the Place des Quinconces would be the subjects of a fantastic scientific study!" cried Mayinza Banthoud from the pro-equality Youth for Ecology association, "They're trying to travel back in time to the 1950s! But we invite them to join us here in the 21st century!" - the crowd laughed and cheered.

The Fight for Equality Heats Up in France

"I'm lesbian, f*ck you" and "Hi homophobes!": Protests and
counter-protests heated up in Paris last weekend

As you're probably aware, France is due to pass its marriage equality bill some time in Spring 2013. At the moment, it's only been in parliament for a few weeks, yet the country has witnessed widespread demonstrations both for and against equal rights for all.

Last weekend saw the largest demonstrations yet, with anti-gay protesters reportedly having brought together over 100,000 people in cities and towns around France to protest against the marriage equality bill.

In reaction to this, gay rights activists organized (in some cases illegal) counter-protests and were met with violence.

What the French Right Really Thinks of Gay Marriage

This morning I woke up and saw an article on the website of the centrist British newspaper The Independent that annoyed me.

It is about President Hollande's push to legalize same-sex marriage in France, and while this article does drift past some truths, not all of it should be just swallowed up.

So, dear readers, today you shall be treated to my analysis and correction of this article, since I live in the country in question and have been following this subject very closely and somewhat actively.

Devastating Plot Twist in France's road to Marriage Equality?

By socialist politician François Hollande being elected President in May of this year, France's hopes for marriage equality had been met with strong promises. But due to the French political system, we knew a socialist majority in parliament would be needed if France were to stand any chance of easily passing a marriage equality bill into law. The parliament was indeed elected with a socialist majority.

So it seemed any gay marriage bill would face few obstacles, yet it may (indirectly), and same-sex marriage might not happen for a long time yet.

This article might be a little skeptic of me, but it covers a very possible plot twist in France's road to marriage equality.

Pray Away the Gay, French Style

For over three decades, clinics claiming to be able to "cure" homosexuality have done more harm than good to the psyche of countless gay men and women.

The different courses include shock therapy and many other traumatizing procedures to try and "make someone straight". However, although most of these more violent methods have been phased out in these clinics, their treatments remain just as damaging.

Recently, a "Christian" organisation in the U.S claiming to be able to "liberate those bound by sexual and relational brokenness", Desert Stream, announced it would be extending "gay cure" treatments to its branches in 10 countries worldwide, including France, Australia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, and all over the US.

Living in France, one of the countries threatened by these phony cure clinics, I did more research into the work Desert Stream's French branch, Torrents de Vie (Waterfalls of Life). This involved me going undercover as a gay Christian to converse with a man who has been through the clinics.

Dictionary calls Gay a "Perversion" and a Transphobic slur "Popular"

Recently there has been scandal and uproar in the French LGBT blogosphere after the online version of the Larousse dictionary defined homosexuality as "a perversion" and "a deviation", and called a transphobic slur "popular".

Larousse is one of the top online dictionaries in France. It is the French equivalent of Webster's dictionary and is used by thousands of French internet surfers every day since its launch in May 2008.

Ending "Gay Cures" - How you can help and why you should

"Gay conversion therapy", sometimes called "reparative therapy" or "gay cures" as they're more commonly known, started back in the 1920s right back at the beginning of psychoanalytic therapy; the era of the world's first psychotherapists such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

In the 1920s, homosexuality was seen to be pathological and attempts to "treat" gays were seen as appropriate, however the vast majority of psychotherapists believed that it was virtually impossible to change a person's sexual orientation.

Views such as these began to dissipate after the Stonewall riots in 1969, but remain in society today, largely amongst the strongly religious communities even though "gay cures" have been proven to be useless. Now, there's a movement underway to stop them.

France: Marriage equality and adoption for all is en route!

(S)

As you may know François Hollande was elected French President last month, making him the first socialist President since François Mitterand. Earlier this month, his Socialist Party obtained the majority in the parlementary elections, which means if they want to pass a law there's not much anyone can do to stop them; which is great news for LGBT people in France.

In his presidential campaign, amongst other things, was his promise for marriage equality, and it seems that he is keeping his word. 

Great Night for LGBT People in France as Socialist President is Elected

Tonight, LGBT groups all over France are celebrating as François Hollande, Socialist Party candidate was elected as President of the Republic with 51.9% of votes.

Why is this so important to LGBT people in France? Hollande promises as part of his program to give full equality to LGBT people over the next five years. It is a breakthrough in a country that has currently got a "separate but equal" view of gay marriage.