The French Act Up organisation is facing financial ruin slander suit goes ahead.
◉ Two former civil servants are planning to take the LGBT Rights organisation to court after being named in a press release.
◉ Organisation faces financial ruin if the court case goes ahead.
◉ Act Up Paris urging supporters to donate money to help the organisation.
According to Act Up Paris, the organisation says its very survival is at stake after two former civil servants of the Ministry of Economy plan to sue the organisation for slander – after being mentioned in a press release.
A statement from Act Up Paris reads,
“This lawsuit is a threat to the very survival of the association, which is now facing harsh financial difficulties. Beyond our organization and the struggle against the AIDS epidemics, our loosing this trial would also have dire consequences for all citizens and organizations that will later denounce equivalent treatises.”
The press release in question was about the ACTA Treaty.
‘Two years ago, you were taking part to the struggle against ACTA, this international agreement which, had it been signed, would have harshly restrained our rights and fundamental liberties, in particular as far as access to medicines, the neutrality of Internet and open software are concerned, the statement continues.
‘Today we appeal to your solidarity. To support us in this trial is to defend the right of civil society to launch alerts against threats, to denounce international agreements being negotiated without citizen control and to question the responsibility of civil servants led to counsel our political decision-makers without their having full knowledge of what is at stakes with these treatises.’
Last year French anti-gay marriage group La Manif Pour Tous planned to sue activism group Act Up after members threw red liquid at the JLF genetic research firm in south-west Paris.
Act Up Paris is the French unit of the Act Up Organisation, which was set up in the early 80s by co-founder Larry Kramer.
Visit: http://www.actupparis.org/spip.php?article5359 to find out more and to make a donation.
It’s totally fabulous to explore different gay scenes when travelling. You can dance the night away to some truly camp-tastic tunes, or cruise the darkrooms for Mr Right Now. Perhaps you want to enjoy feathers and frills at a drag queen cabaret show? We’ve looked at some of the best gay hotspots in Europe to suit everyone’s needs.
Benidorm, Spain
CREDIT: piquetsebtotal CC0 Public Domain / pixabay
The Benidorm gay village can be found in the Old Town area of this popular Spanish holiday resort. The gay part of Benidorm’s Levante beach sits in front of the Don Cesar café, and is a great place to tan before a night out with your best pals. 7th Heaven has been a popular gay bar for years and has an excellent reputation for making tourists and locals feel welcome. This is a fab bar for an early drink, and the relaxed atmosphere is ideal for meeting new people. Cabaret lovers will enjoy a night at Mardi Gras, with top performances from Miss Stella Artois, plus an excellent Cher tribute act. Younger LGBT crowds can be found at the Mercury nightclub, which is famous for its pumping dance music and buzzing atmosphere. This club is for real party animals only, as the doors don’t even open until after midnight.
Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria
CREDIT: MonicaVolpin CC0 Public Domain / Pixabay
Make your way to the Yumbo Centre for all the gay action you’ll need; this place is like a shopping centre bursting with gay bars and nightclubs. Those of you who love drag queen acts will feel at home in Sparkles Show Bar. Enjoy hilarious cabaret shows and maybe some audience participation too if you’re lucky! Meanwhile, Coco Loco is great for the younger gays who want to dance and enjoy a cheeky flirt (in the hope of starting a holiday romance). There’s also a terrace to cool down on, if it all gets a little hot and sweaty inside. Babylon XL club is for those who really want to party ’til the sun rises. Enjoy laser shows, sexy male dancers and of course the obligatory darkrooms.
The Algarve, Portugal
CREDIT: Peter Etchells
LGBT-friendly bars and nightclubs are scattered everywhere in this southern region. Boémio Disco is the oldest gay club in the Algarve and can be found next to the Ponte Velha Bridge in Portimão. Boémio Disco also offers free Wi-Fi, which is ideal if you want to log into Grindr as you dance and sip a cool drink. When you’re not dancing the night away, relax on one of the most beautiful beaches in southern Portugal, the Praua da Rocha, and check out all the guys in their tight speedos. Another club in Portimão is Loft by Pride; which is considered by many to be the best gay club in the Algarve. Then there’s Fame Bar which can be found on the busiest street in Albufeira, a popular holiday resort within the Algarve region. Finally, if you fancy one last boogie before the flight home, check out Heaven Club near Faro airport.
Amsterdam, Holland
The most famous gay area is Reguliersdwarsstraat Street. So how about starting your evening in style here at the Amstel Fifty Four Club, one of the oldest gay bars in Amsterdam? You can join in with raucous groups singing along to the jukebox and belt out your favourite tunes. Afterwards, move onto Club NyX, which is one of the biggest gay discos in the city and promises you a wild evening. Named after the Greek goddess of the night, the club is spread over three floors, each playing a different style of music. If you’re camper than Alan Carr and David Walliams put together then mince your way to the Exit Café next door. This small nightspot is decked out like a mountain ski bar and is full of young, cute Dutchman. So what are you waiting for? Squeeze into that tight t-shirt, spray on the glitter and say hi to the locals!
Paris, France
(c) TheGayUK
No list would be complete without a mention of the world’s most romantic city, Paris – a quick hop away from the UK, Paris is reachable by air, train and sea. A bustling gay scene and more romantic walks than you can shake a stick at. Plenty of gay bars await you in the Marais district in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. You’ll find lots of gay friendly bars and restaurants – and no one will bat a eye if you hold your lover’s hand in public – ah gay Paris!
French Anti-Gay Marriage Protest Group Plan To Sue Act Up
• French anti-gay marriage group plans to sue activism group Act Up after members threw red liquid at the JLF genetic research firm in south-west Paris. • ActUp is an international ‘direct action’ advocacy group that formed in 1987. • La Manif Pour Tous (LMPT) has staged mass protest rallies in France, but has failed to ignite interest across the world with its demonstrations.
RFI is reporting that the French organisation intends to sue advocacy group ACT UP after some of its activists threw fake blood and posted posters reading “shame” and “homophobe” on the outside of the Jérome Lejeune Foundation, which is a genetic research firm, where the president of La Manif Pour Tous, (Demo For All), Ludovine de la Rochère works as a communications manager.
In a tweet La Manif Pour Tous announced its intention to file a complaint after ‘the vandalism of @ActUpParis and one expects a strong response from the authorities.’
ActUp said it was acting in protest when LMPT allegedly called for help during a rally outside the Russian embassy in May.
In June, President Putin signed into law a bill that could see citizens promoting “non-traditional relationships” to anyone under 18 face hefty fines and prison.
A number of boycotts and petitions have started around the world in response to the crackdown on Russia’s LGBT community.
Clément Méric, an 18-year-old student and well known gay rights activist in Paris was violently attacked by a group of three ‘far-right skinheads’, including one women near the Saint-Lazare train station on Wednesday evening, the Local is reporting.
Four arrests have been made in connection to the attack including the individual suspected of delivering the final blow to Méric’s head in Wednesday’s attack.
The Local also reports that at least one of the attackers wore knuckle-dusters according to initial reports.
An eyewitness, named only as Aurelia, described to French journalists the horrendous scene she had witnessed.
“I was out doing some shopping, when I found myself face to face with the attackers,” who she told reporters had shaved heads and wore leather jackets.
“I saw the young man falling, and his head hitting a bollard. There was blood coming out of his ears and nose, and then he went into convulsions.”
“He had a huge lump at the back of his head, and his face was covered in blood,” she added.
Anti-gay crime has soared in the last few months, as France became the 14th nation to equalise same-sex marriages.
In April a gay dancer, Raphaël Leclerc was beaten unconscious in Nice, and Wildred de Brujin was attacked in Paris. Also in the same month four people were detained by police on suspicion of carrying out an attack at a gay bar in the French city of Lille.
A vigil will take place this evening for the victim.
The number of people who attended an anti-gay marriage rally has been revised from the organiser’s estimation of 1 million down to 150,000
Seen as a last-ditch attempt to derail the new bill that legalises same-sex marriage in France, thousands of protesters demonstrated.
PinkNews.co.uk has reported the number of those taking part at around 150,000 whilst the rally’s organisers, La Manif Pour Tous (Demo For All) have reported extreme figures of one million demonstrators.
The new bill, which was signed into law by President Francois Holland, has caused much controversy in France, after it made France the 14th nation to recognise same-sex marriage earlier in May 2013
Thousands of riot police were mobilised after an increasing number of the crowd became violent, when illegal teargas canisters and fireworks were reportedly used as weapons.
Around 50 people were arrested – and a vehicle was seized after masks, banners and smoke bombs were discovered inside.
The Independent reports:
About 200 young people, many of them masked, pelted police lines with bottles, stones, fireworks and flares. The crowd – led bizarrely at one stage by a lone bagpiper – chased and beat up TV crews and press photographers. Police and gendarmes responded with tear gas and baton charges.
There were surreal battle scenes on the Esplanade des Invalides beside the foreign ministry as 200 gendarmes in riot gear formed into defensive squares to beat off attacks from running bands of protesters. Although a hard core of about 200 hard-right youths started the fighting, many hundreds of other, soberly dressed, middle-class protesters cheered them on.
France’s Government passes same-sex marriage in final vote in Parliament.
France is ready to become the 14th nation on earth to legalise same-sex marriage after the National Assembly passed the bill in a vote.
331 voted in favour, while 225 voted against – giving same-sex couples the legal right to marry.
Pinknews are reporting that the final step in making marriage equality law in France is for the president, Francois Hollande to sign the bill.
President Hollande as already given his formal approval.
The revelation follows the news that New Zealand voted in favour of marriage equality last week.
However there has been much tension in France surrounding the issue of gay marriage with one major organisation, La Manif Pour Tous (Demo For All), coordinating mass rallies in the French capital, Paris.
Indeed, tensions where so high during voting that “legions” of police were assembled outside the National Assembly with water cannons.
A number of high profile homophobic attacks have also been reported in the last few weeks. On April 6th a gay couple were beaten in Paris and last weekend a young gay dancer, Raphaël Leclerc was beaten in Nice.
A gay couple in France were beaten unconscious in Paris on Saturday night in a shocking homophobic bashing.
Posting this gruesome picture on Facebook, Wilfred de Brujin said on Facebook that he and his boyfriend Olivier were beaten so badly he lost a tooth, suffered broken bones and two black eyes. He was targeted on Saturday night because they were walking arm in arm.
The picture was posted on Mr. De Brujin’s Facebook.
He said: ‘Sorry to show you this,
‘It’s the face of homophobia. Last night 19th arrondissement, Paris, Olivier and I were badly beaten just for walking arm in arm.
‘I woke up in an ambulance covered in blood, missing tooth and broken bones around the eye.
I’m home now. Very sad.’
The President of gay rights group SOS Homophobie, Elizabeth Ronzier, told The Local:
‘This was a shocking and incredibly violent incident. We have seen a 30% rise in the number of homophobic incidents since October.
‘This is a result of the opposition towards the gay marriage bill,’ she added. ‘These people say they are not homophobic but they are. Homophobia has become trivialized [sic], which is proved by the number of verbal assaults on gay people, which often to lead to physical assaults.’
Representatives from La Manif Pour Tous condemned the attack and groups like SOS Homophobie saying:
‘Groups like SOS Homophobia should be ashamed for trying to blame us for these acts,”
Xavier Bongibault, one of the movement’s leaders told The Local on Monday.
‘We strongly condemn this act of violence but there is no link whatsoever to the Manif pour Tous. We have said since the beginning that we are not against homosexuals, we are simply against the government’s legislation.’said Bongibault, who himself is gay.
The savage beaten comes just over fortnight after the anti-gay marriage campaigning group, La Manif Pour Tous held a demonstration in France’s capital city protesting the rights of gay people to marry.
The Local states that gay-rights groups are set to hold a protest on 10th April 2013 in response to the attack against Mr De Brujin
The French anti-same sex marriage organisers of La Manif Pour Tous (Demo For All) are allegedly planning a demonstration in London on the 24th March 2013.
A Subway restauranteur from Angers in France displayed a promotion in his window which excluded gay couples, because the marriage bill for marriage equality hasn’t officially passed.
A Subway sandwich shop owner in Angers, France, which is 180 miles Southwest of Paris posted an advert in his window promoting a Valentine’s special for couples – two foot-long subs for €10.
The owner of the shop indicated that only heterosexual couples were allowed to use the offer – and insisted he was within his rights because the marriage bill for marriage equality hasn’t officially passed in France.
Translation of the advert, printed on Subway headed paper reads:
Valentine’s Day
Thursday February 14
Lovers’ celebration for couples (M/F*)
2 30-cm menu items for 14,00€
*Discrimination (?): No, the marriage for all bill has not yet been ratified by the senate. So for the moment I’m using the freedom-of-speech law.
A spokes person from Subway said,
“The SUBWAY® brand is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment around the world and does not condone discrimination of any kind. We apologize to anyone who was offended by this individual store’s Valentine’s Day promotion in Angers, France. All SUBWAY® stores are independently owned and operated. We are working with the owner to reinforce our corporate values and policies.“
A Tweet from Subway France said, “the poster in question was removed IMMEDIATELY from restaurant in Angers.”
The company also took to its Facebook page on Saturday morning, following an influx of negative comments.
It is not known whether the person(s) responsible for the discriminatory advert will face any disciplinary actions by Subway.
BBC News was criticised yesterday by Stonewall’s CEO, Ben Summerskill OBE for its lack of coverage of the Parisian ‘Mariage Pour Tous’ (Marriage For All) demonstration which was held in the French capital.
AS Reports emerge of an organised march for marriage equality in France the hashtag #MariagePourTous (MarriageForAll) trends high in France.
Hundreds of people have taken to twitter to tweet their support and pictures for the marriage equality bill which President Hollande has said he will introduce into French law.
One Twitter user, Katia @AbsolutelyKatia tweeted:
MARCH today in Paris! It’s about the fundamental rights this country is so proud of: liberté, egalité, fraternité. #mariagepourtous
Hundreds of people have responded to the call to publicly demonstrate their support for the marriage equality bill.
The French bill which establishes marriage for all was subject to mass protests two weeks ago, when a reported 340,000 people turned up on the street of Paris for ‘La Manif Pour Tous’ (Demo for all)
Supporters of the bill have asked the President not to yield to the pressure of the opponents and maintain the establishment gay marriage under the law.
