The third pride march in working-class neighborhoods takes place on Saturday June 3 in the streets of Saint-Denis to demand access to PMA for trans and non-white people. Yanis Khames, coordinator of the event, also calls for a better reception of the LGBT+ community in public services.
“I invite you to come to the Pride of the suburbs on Saturday June 3 from Saint-Denis, see you there!”, launches Adèle Haenel in a video posted on the Instagram account of the collective organizer of this pride march in working-class neighborhoods. The actress, who recently publicized her “stopping of the cinema”, also calls to sign the petition of the pride for the access to the PMA “for all”.
>>> Pride of the suburbs: “We are not here just to make noise”, warns the queer community of working-class neighborhoods
Adele Haenel is “a personality who has an important place in militant circles”, explains Yanis Khames, co-coordinator of the event. On the occasion of this third Pride of the suburbs – which had brought together nearly 10,000 people in 2022 – he publishes The margins at the center of the struggle: theory and practice of the pride of the suburbs, a sort of manifesto of the movement.
franceinfo: this year, the pride of the suburbs has as its main demand access to PMA “for all”. In your opinion, the law of 2021 which opened medically assisted procreation to female couples and single women did not go far enough?
Yanis Khames: Unfortunately, she excluded trans people because people who have the civility of men cannot have access to PMA according to this law. So that means that if you are able to procreate but have male civility, like many trans men, you do not have access to PMA. This is a first point. But in addition to that, there is also in fact a practice that exists, which has been prohibited by a circular, which is called pairing. It consists of requiring that oocyte donors have the same skin color as the recipients. Which means that a black person who benefits from egg donation must have a black donor.
“The problem is that there is a shortage of gametes and in particular a shortage of gametes from racialized people because prevention campaigns to encourage the donation of gametes specifically target white people.”
Yanis Khames, co-coordinator of the Pride of the suburbsat franceinfo
And so in fact, a racialized person can wait up to ten years, according to the biomedicine agency [citée par Libération], when a white person has to wait two years on average to have access to PMA. This is all the more problematic since the peak of fertility is at 25 years old and then the time is running out to be able to be a parent.
franceinfo: Among the supporters of Pride, there is actress Adèle Haenel. In a video, she calls for signing your petition for expanded access to PMA. This message was shared a few days after the sensational announcement of his decision to no longer make movies. Why did you ask for it?
He is a personality who, in militant circles, has an important place since his firm positions during the Cesar ceremony. [en 2022]. We also need people linked to our struggles and who have visibility in order to be able to echo the movement, so that our demands reach as many people as possible. Adèle Haenel, we’re so happy that she accepted, we’ve been in contact with her for a while and it’s something we’ve been working on for a little longer [que l’annonce de son “arrêt du cinéma”]. Adèle Haenel represents the “No !”. That’s to say : “All the legitimate spaces that you impose and in which you decide in a group of people who are in a position of domination, this is not acceptable”. She is truly the symbol of that.
franceinfo: last year, you hoped to be able to make public service agents aware of how to welcome LGBTQ+ people. Have the administrations opened their doors to you?
It’s very sluggish. There are localities that have one-off initiatives but for the moment there is only an obligation in very few areas. And when it exists, it is sensitization of one to two hours, when training of at least three days is necessary. We have a training course which was organized at the town hall of Saint-Denis on Thursday June 1st. We are also working with the department to organize training, but that takes time. For me, there is a lack of political will. We feel that this remains a secondary subject.
franceinfo: What situations would these trainings put an end to?
In the context of a school, if we have teachers who are trained, that means that they will create a climate that will be more conducive for LGBT+ people. They will organize awareness-raising times, set up tools so that the people concerned can have information on identities, know who to talk to if necessary. It can also be, if there is a situation of violence, having, on the one hand, the right words and, on the other hand, good practices to support the victim. For example, an LGBTphobic slur will not pass. It can also be a trans person who arrives at a counter, for example from the registry office, and who is not going to be misgendered. We’re going to call her by the pronoun she identifies with. It means creating a climate in which violence is not accepted and in which the victims are supported and finally in which everyone can flourish. It’s also, just at the coffee machine, being able to be comfortable talking about your boyfriend, if you’re a guy, and there’s no problem. It’s also very simple stuff.