French gay-rights organization SOS Homophobie, which monitors homophobic acts in the country, reports a staggering jump of 78 percent in incidents in 2013.
The unsettling surge coincides with France legalizing gay marriage, which polarized opinions during legislative deliberation and led to massive antigay demonstrations.
“There’s no doubt the rise in homophobic acts was linked to the context of the opposition against gay marriage,” said Gregory Premon from SOS Homophobie. “Homophobic words and statements became trivialised during this period and helped legitimize insults and homophobic violence.”
The group received 1,977 complaints of homophobia at its help hotline in 2012 compared to 3,500 in 2013.
Since there are no corresponding studies released by the interior or justice ministries, these figures are the best measure of the undeniable trend in violent speech and actions.
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“In recent months homophobic speech has become totally uninhibited in all spheres of society,” SOS Homophobie said in a recent statement.
There have been some high profile attacks, like the brutal beating of Wilfred de Bruijn (pictured) and his boyfriend Olivier in Paris in April 2012, which gay rights watch groups link directly to the impassioned campaign against gay marriage.
And while these same groups still celebrate marriage equality as a victory, the high price with which it hase come is worrisome.
Educating young people remains a high priority for SOS Homophobie, especially since homophobic acts in schools also rose by 25 percent.
Via The Local
Stefano
Je ne suis vraiment pas surpris !
toberlin
This is also representitive for europe everywhere.And there is more behind this topic than homophobic acts.It often seem to me like a “clash of cultures” in europe.The european people (educated/cultered in a globalised world) vrs.the people who feel overburdened/scared in a world turns faster and faster.And also europe has a long tradition in “bashing people who are gay make you feel better”.In germany especially in the eastern parts (also in Berlin) it is also “racism” that serve the same purpose.
gskorich
why is the outcome of a gay hate crime always the gay guy getting beat up. is there ever a time where the gay guy fights back and wins? i need a little more to go on than just there is in increase in gay hate crimes. how were these gays singled out? were they doing something that caused attention? did they fight back?
MrKev
Sad. I didn’t realize France was such a homophobic shythole. And when are gay men going to get some guts and start beating the crap out of these disgusting thugs? Gay men spend so much damn time in the gym working on their muscles, so why not f’ing put them to use???
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
France, and the rest of Europe are undergoing a nasty transformation. The Muslims have been attempting to impose their rigid beliefs on the rest of the populations. France now has the highest exodus of Jews to Israel in history, many of them simply giving up and leaving the country. Groups of Muslims are roving the streets verbally and physically abusing those they feel are not acting and behaving in the “correct way”. Until these nations wake up history will view the evil Hitler imposed upon Germany as the antics of a rank amatuer…………
toberlin
For sure guys who are gay punch back.I think the attackers are for some reason just not so interested to see their faces in the press.And medias would promote the attackers as victims .
I think with more rights for people who are gay also violent speech is less accepted and people make a complaint.
tdx3fan
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Yes, its all the Muslims faults. No other group has ever been homophobic. Your mind baffles me if you believe this.
@toberlin: I don’t know if the intent is to truly make the evening news or not, but I would probably argue that as the stigma towards gay people goes down, more people are willing to step forward when these types of incidents happen.
We also have seen a culture shift where gay people are starting to feel entitled to behave any way they desire in public. That is often just asking for trouble. Sure, in a perfect world, gays should be able to walk down the street holding hands at 12AM with no problems. In the real world, they need to watch their back.
toberlin
Plays well with others:
I could say a lot to that topic.I just have the Impression you are not really interested to mobilize my lame english.So short cut:Europe is not one country just because of the european union.France or the UK for example have to deal with other problems because their colonies /ex colonies than Germany with the Integration of the “guest workers”.Just Google for example the datas of religious /non religious/ muslim/christian etc.people for every european country plus different history/cultures/constitutions etc..
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@tdx3fan: I do not place all the blame on Muslims, however there has been a tremendous surge of anti-Gay incidents in Europe since the significant increase in the muslim populations, there are plenty of non muslim assholes out there also……….
However your comments kinda sorta baffle me also………….
“We also have seen a culture shift where gay people are starting to feel entitled to behave any way they desire in public. That is often just asking for trouble.”
Really? We are “starting to feel entitled” and we are “asking for trouble”? That is the entire jist of my comment. We have every right to behave any way we want. Our behaviour should have no constraints in any way shape or form. As long as we are engaged in perfectly legal behaviour you have every right to disagree and or disapprove. And as long as you keep your thoughts to yourself that is fine. You have no right to make any attempt to change my behaviour…………
toberlin
tdx 3fan:
I do not want to missonize you or bother you with my reality here.I’m sorry to tell you that where I live (Berlin /Prenzlauer Berg) people who are gay kissing holding hands or each other in a park is not OMG or a head-turner for majority of the people here.Wowereit is no Disney Character. I haver never been in the USA but I travelled .I just not able to discuss things on a worldview =dichotomy of believers and unbelievers.
Tookietookie123
@MrKev: The French government strongly supports gay rights and so do the majority of the people, but just as in the US, that small minority group who absolutely hate gay people are very vocal. As for gay people defending themselves, we’re very much outnumbered hundreds of thousands to 1. It’s an unfair fight, but we have no choice but to push on.
Blackceo
This is sad. My partner and I are looking to possibly relocate to a European country (London, Paris, Barcelona) in the next few years. I love Europe and always have an amazing time when I travel there and would love to live there for at least 10 years while I’m still young enough (I’m 36) to dip it and do it. I still feel more comfortable than I do in many US places other than NY, DC, Miami, Chicago, SF, and LA when it comes to openly displaying even what little PDA I like with my partner. Of course it is one thing to visit a place and mostly travel in the touristy areas, as opposed to living there and immersing in the areas with “the locals”.
No place is immune to this kind of violence. Some areas are safer than others. Ignorant homophobes are everywhere, even in the aforementioned cities I mentioned. Damn sure not going to let them prevent me from living abroad though, but I hope these are numbers that do not continue to rise. Pretty sure too these numbers may just be from more people actually reporting as opposed to being quiet before. Because of the advancement in rights more people may feel as though there is less stigma in reporting.
toberlin
Blackceo:
:)Barcelona for sure (Quality of living).London is really cool too.Paris is good for a visit but meh to live there to me.But I travelled a lot in France (also as a child with family) I really like it there.Best of Luck to you and your partner from Germany!
Billysees
Isn’t France a very Catholic country?
The catechism of the Catholic church says this about LGBT’s — “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”
Sounds like the CC has much teaching to do about their own doctrines.
toberlin
Billsees:
The doctrin of the catholic church and what people do with it are two books.Being christian is for a lot of people here more a traditionell thing than something that has in strong influence on their daily life.The christian fundamentalism and the strong influence on politic ,culture,sexlife of people is much more a USA problem than a european problem ( often much more liberal interpretation of religion).However I do have a problem with a religious way of thinking = dichotomy
toberlin
And there is a difference between northern, eastern,southern and western europe.
There is not always a simple answer on a simple question.
Mezaien
Reminder! the FROGS, are D.E.K.C.U.F UP Catholics.