thousands of demonstrators parade in Saint-Denis for the “march of pride in the suburbs”

A tide of rainbow flags swept through the streets of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis). Several thousand people marched on Saturday June 3 for the third edition of the “suburban pride march”. The rally was organized to defend the rights of LGBTQI+ people residing in working-class neighborhoods.

There is “a real lack of visibility for racialized queers”laments Bonita Kouevi, a 20-year-old student, to AFP. “The pride of the suburbs emphasizes that and it is good”she adds. “In the suburbs, it’s more complicated because there is less access to help, to care, to listening. (…) In Paris, there are a lot of associations and shelters Queers aren’t just in the capitals.”she continues.

In the procession, demonstrators chanted slogans for medically assisted procreation (PMA) “for all”. The law adopted in 2021 “excluded trans people because people who have the civility of men cannot have access to PMA”explained Yanis Kames, coordinator of the event, on franceinfo. “So that means that if we are able to procreate, but we have male civility, like many trans men, we do not have access to PMA”