This video has shocked France. Last week, Julia, a transgender woman in her early 30’s was trying to get on the subway when a group of young men blocked her going down the stairs. One asked if she was a man or a woman. Another grabbed at her breasts and buttock. Another exposed himself. Two onlookers, including a young woman, tried to help. Fortunately authorities soon arrived and the situation was de-escalated. Julia has presented a formal complaint against her attackers and the police case is ongoing.
In a positive turn of events Julia has been invited on various television programs to describe what it’s like to be the victim of a mob. How quickly taunts turned into chanting, which then turned into violence. We can all imagine how badly this could have ended if police hadn’t arrived so quickly. If there was no one there to help. If they were in a little town instead of in the middle of Paris. There are some excellent articles about the incident and associated topics in this week’s Libération. And there was also a very well conducted and respectful interview on last night´s ONPC with Laurent Ruquier:
This attack, and many others that take place every day, doesn’t exist in a vacuum. They’re part of a progression that kicks off with people portraying decent, law abiding LGBT individuals as inherently dangerous. Dangerous to society, and often even dangerous to children. This sets a chain of events into motion that has dire consequences.
John Branyan 
This, the forward in “Sexual Morality in a Christian World” “Meanwhile, Christians who abide by those traditional sexual morals are increasingly seen as outcasts, backward people dangerously hung up on ancient, oppressive principles.” Even the book makes the attackers the victim. This video shows a root of the real problem. Truly despicable
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End italics after principles. Sorry. Dam phone.
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I’ll fix it 😊
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I thought only the US had this kind of bigotry…thought France was well past that. Maybe it’s a bleedover from the US..so terrible
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It does unfortunately also still exist in France. Before the gay marriage law was passed in 2014, US Evangelical groups flooded French media and social networks with their hate propaganda and misinformation. This created a wave of homophobia and brought back to the surface a number of anti-lgbt myths.
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People over here see these evangelical groups as just a religious belief, albeit a far right one. They don’t realize they are a powerful political group with much influence that hides behind the guise of religion.
It’s power and control they are after and they use the ignorant to further their cause.
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Yes, I can’t begin to describe how disturbing I find the way American society has come to treat the so-called *culture wars*. Sometimes like a game, often for profit – and the part that many ignore is there are people paying a real life price for it.
When LGBT teens take their own lives or are victims of violence that’s in no small part due to the hostile environment they confront on a regular basis.
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