Pride march in Paris: thousands of people expected this Saturday

Pride time has come. Amid floats, rainbow flags and protest signs, thousands of people will march in Paris on Saturday to defend the rights of LGBT+ people during this Pride March. It will start at 1:00 p.m. at Place d'Italie in the south of the capital, with an arrival planned in eastern Paris, Place de la Bastille, where a concert will be held.

“We are a few months before the presidential election, so we call on LGBT+ and allies to mobilize for a future based on solidarity,” comments Alexandre Schon, co-president of Inter-LGBT, which brings together around fifty associations and organizes the Parisian demonstration. “We must stand up against the far right.” “We could be the next targets,” he adds, recalling that abroad, such as in the United States or Senegal, the rights of LGBT+ people are “attacked”.

Originally scheduled for June

Pride marches are organized locally by associations throughout France, often in June, in connection with the Stonewall riots, the founding mobilization of the LGBT+ movement, which took place on the night of June 27 to 28, 1969, in New York.

Initially planned for the end of June, the Paris march was postponed at the request of the Paris police chief, who threatened to ban it due to the persistence of a heatwave which was putting a strain on emergency services and hospitals.

Last year, the Parisian demonstration brought together 500,000 participants according to the organizers, less than 100,000 according to the police.