This is a first in the region. An LGBTQIA + center has just opened its doors this Saturday in Saint-Denis. It is intended to be a link of exchange and support for young gays, trans or queer often rejected or abused by those around them.
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The city of Saint-Denis, which had already hosted Reunion’s first visibility march in May 2021, is once again this year by being behind, with the OriZon association, the opening of the first LGBTQIA + center of the island. It is even a first in the region.
Watch the report from Réunion La 1ère:
This is a first in the region: an LGBTQIA + center opens its doors in Saint-Denis
A space for exchange and solidarity
This center, located in the La Source district, aims to be a space of exchange and solidarity for members of the LGBTQIA + community, but also for those around them and, more broadly, the general public. It will host several other associations such as Re-Queer, Re-Born, or even SOS homophobie which actively fights against discrimination.
“You have young Reunionese and Reunionese who go into exile in metropolitan France, recalls Guillaume Kichenama, elected delegate for the fight against discrimination at the town hall of St Denis. Myself, I had to leave Reunion Island for 25 years to escape the eyes of others“.
The center was inaugurated in the presence of the mayor of Saint-Denis Ericka Bareigts
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A library in the heart of the center
Fortunately, mentalities are gradually changing even if there is still a lot to do and there are still young people mistreated or even rejected by their relatives because of their sexual orientation.
Visitors to the center will be able to meet, if they wish, a specialized educator, a mediator on access to rights and a psychologist. This new space also has a library offering works of fiction (manga, comics, novels, poems) but also essays or scientific works.
The library area of the LGBTQIA + center in Saint-Denis
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Writing workshops and poetry readings
“It aims to make representativeness, which is much lacking in this community. A lot of people cannot read books with characters who look like them and this is something that is important especially when you are young and under construction.“, explains Xylric Lepinay, president of the OriZon association.
Events are already scheduled. A writing workshop dedicated to “praise of difference” will soon be offered and poet Anita Goumane will also soon read her lesbian love poems.
Ultimately, the objective for this association is to open other centers throughout the island.
The LGBTQIA + center in Saint-Denis is managed by the Orizon association
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