Marche des Fiertés 2014, 2015

[htmb]

While I have posted a few photos of the 2014 Marche des Fiertés, Paris Gay Pride Parade, in my “France for a Month” thread as well in the image bank, I thought it might be interesting to make a separate thread since I took so many photos. I’ve told the story elsewhere about my surprise experience when the Marche de Fiertés of a few years ago passed almost in front of my apartment. I’d been totally unaware of what was going on until I heard the loud music and saw the crowds in the street. This year I was a little more prepared.

I was staying in the Marais area of Paris and, though I wasn’t sure if I would be able to see anything, I thought I would go for a walk towards the Bastille and just see what was going on. If I missed the parade because I couldn’t get close, then so be it. At least I would be getting out of the apartment and getting some exercise.

If had been raining off and on all morning and the temperature was pretty cool. I had on a raincoat with a hood and had also brought an umbrella. I wasn’t so worried about getting wet myself, but wanted to protect my camera as much as possible.

When I first arrived at the Bastille the police were closing the area off to traffic and people were lined up on the sidewalks.

I asked a woman when the parade was supposed to pass the area and she pointed up the street to where I could see a solid wall of people. They were on their way!

I found a spot on a raised concrete area in a section of the street; something similar to where the man is standing in the photo above, but higher, and stood there as the parade advanced and spread around me.

[htmb]

Parade organizers later asked those of us on the raised concrete area to move so I stepped over to the curb. I realized I had no firm idea how to take photos of large crowds of people who were on the move, much less in the rain, so I began to play with my camera settings. I also began walking in the opposite direction, stopping occasionally when I saw something interesting to photograph.

[htmb]

Lots more pictures to come, but the last one is my very favorite!

I have said over and over again what a fantastic time I had photographing the parade. I've never seen so many people in one place seemingly having such a great time. There was lots of posing for pictures, laughing and joking, and I didn't observe the drinking I had seen over on blvd Saint-Michel a few years ago (though I think those drinking were observers of the parade, not participants). Even though there were lots of people, the police appeared relatively relaxed, while still on alert, and everyone seemed to be out to just have fun and be together.

[htmb]

I used the parade gaps to change positions, constantly walking towards Île Saint-Louis.

[Deleted]

It's always nice to see the gay police association float, considering the fact that just 30 years ago, the only role of the police was to repress this sort of event.

[htmb]

I honestly think the crowd following along behind the police float was the largest of any in the parade.

[htmb]

[Deleted]

The name of the police association "Flag" isn't the acronym of anything -- it refers to both the rainbow flag and also is the short slang term for flagrant délit, flag, which means "caught in the act."

[htmb]

[bjd]

The drag queens seem to have the most fun. (So many of the young women look so serious.) I do wonder how they manage to walk in those high heels.

Some good photos towards the end -- many of the first are taken from the back, so they are less interesting, but once you warmed up! Especially the last one of the "nun".

When I was young, in Toronto, the homosexual community held a big march on Halloween -- that day they could dress how they wanted. Participants used to come from NYC apparently.

[htmb]

After reaching almost the end of the parade, and with the rain starting to fall even heavier, I decided I’d pushed my luck with my camera and it was time to head home. Lots of fun though!

[htmb]

Aug 2, 2014 16:36:13 GMT bjd said:

Some good photos towards the end -- many of the first are taken from the back, so they are less interesting, but once you warmed up! Especially the last one of the "nun".

True, I did get warmed up, though some of the photos were taken from the back to give a viewer the idea of the direction the parade was heading, particularly when near the Bastille.

Other photos shown from the rear were posted because I doubt ProBoards would approve of the frontal shots which I have not posted.

[Deleted]

Excellent and (obviously) extremely colourful report! Although Paris no longer has a gay mayor, there continue to be several prominent gay members of the municipal council, including the socialist mayor of the 4th arrondissement and the communist in charge of housing, both of whom were among the first people to take advantage of the same sex marriage law.

[htmb]

Thanks, Kerouac. It certainly would have been more colorful without the rain, but I suppose that enhanced the experience.

[lagatta]

Some of the underdressed marchers were very brave, soldiering along in that weather!

Yes, it must have taken a lot of courage for gay flics and gendarmes to come out.

Ours is upcoming next week (DiversCité) and an old and dear friend of mine, involved in an early gay rights movement, is coming and staying with me. I'm a boring straight, but have never seen why people's sexual orientation should be anyone else's business, unless they are rapists or pedophiles, and those exist among straight, gay, and everything else.

[htmb]

Aug 3, 2014 23:14:37 GMT lagatta said:

Some of the underdressed marchers were very brave, soldiering along in that weather!

Yes, it must have taken a lot of courage for gay flics and gendarmes to come out.

Ours is upcoming next week (DiversCité) and an old and dear friend of mine, involved in an early gay rights movement, is coming and staying with me. I'm a boring straight, but have never seen why people's sexual orientation should be anyone else's business, unless they are rapists or pedophiles, and those exist among straight, gay, and everything else.

I'm chuckling over your "boring straight" description. Straight is not necessarily boring.

I do, however, agree completely with the rest of that sentence!

[Deleted]

Oh, I bet the leathermen were happy that it was raining, at least they stayed cool. In Vancouver's Pride parade, the temperatures were over eighty and they must have suffered.

[tod2]

Please can someone explain the 'dress' that some gay people adopt. What's with this leather and stud business? Forgive this old lady who has been sheltered for most of her life from 'other' people ( by our government) so am still naive and silly about these things.
Having said that. My cousin was a gay man - a doctor actually, and extremely clever. He never dressed like that in public but who knows.....in privacy?
Please tell me it is just a fashion statement and nothing sinister.

[Deleted]

I certainly cannot explain it since I suffer (?) from coulrophobia (fear of clowns), and it extends to any disguise, cross dressing, heavy makeup, wild costumes, etc. As a child, Halloween was an absolute torture for me since we had to wear costumes at school that day. While I do not totally panic if I find myself in such a crowd, I am extremely careful to avoid contact or communication with costumed or disguised individuals as much as possible.

[Deleted]

A very small subset of gay men like to dress in leather, chains and studs. It comes partly from a fetishization of motorcycle culture (chaps, jackets, etc.) and partly from the S/M crowd, which can be either straight, gay or anywhere in between. It's quite benign, tod, and nothing to be threatened by. I've met many leather(wo)men, and it's simply an identity and the sense of belonging to a group, like people who dress up as Klingons, or Game of Thrones characters, or furry animals.

[lagatta]

htmb, that was simply self-deprecation. As I have a few friends who were prominent in the gay and lesbian movements in the 1970s (yep, I'm not a young'un) I'd respond "Oh, I'm JUST a boring straight", when some would think I was gay, because I didn't want to make is sound like "Horrors, I'm not one of THEM"!

I'm rather thoroughly het, but think I was drawn to gay people because I had no intention of starting up a family. I was very close (not sexually, obviously) to a gay man I worked with because we chatted about our furry creatures while others chattered about their human children. Not that I dislike human children either; just the expectation 40 years ago that we were to have them.

Sadly, this man was stabbed to death by a burglar while managing his companion's b&b. And his family repatriated his body back to Chicoutimi in central-northern Québec, and didn't even invite his companion, or his friends and co-workers (including me) to the funeral.

Thankfully, things have changed since then.

[htmb]

I understand, Lagatta. I was just using the opportunity to tease you a bit, but I get what you're saying

[lagatta]

Oh, that's fine.

[htmb]

Aug 4, 2014 17:46:47 GMT kerouac2 said:

I certainly cannot explain it since I suffer (?) from coulrophobia (fear of clowns), and it extends to any disguise, cross dressing, heavy makeup, wild costumes, etc. As a child, Halloween was an absolute torture for me since we had to wear costumes at school that day. While I do not totally panic if I find myself in such a crowd, I am extremely careful to avoid contact or communication with costumed or disguised individuals as much as possible.

This is certainly not uncommon, but Halloween as a small child in the southeastern U.S. had to be hell for you. The young students I taught years ago were in a special program for highly intelligent children. I'm reminded of one seven year-old student I taught who not only had a fear of costumed people, but was also terrified of anything having to do with dinosaur bones. Seeing even a cartoon-like depiction would completely unhinge her. The mathematics textbook we used had both a cover and one chapter page with large cartoon drawings of a brontosaurus skeleton character and I had to tear off and discard both pages before she would go near her book. I later tore off the cover pages of all the other math books to help alleviate her anxiety.


Tod, as another response to your question, I think people, are people, are people, meaning that we all have our own interests and motivations for doing the things that appeal to us. And now, in many parts of the world, people can choose how they wish to show self-expression without fear of repercussion. Sometimes they even go way over the top just because they can. There's a lot I don't understand about various individual decisions (in regards to all aspects of life), but I am certainly happy there is freedom of choice.

[mich64]

Great report htmb. I have never been to a pride parade but I do think it would be quite fun to be immersed with people celebrating their lives and loves with everyone around them.

[htmb]

Because, where else in Paris can you go and find people who all want you to take their photograph, yesterday I attended the Pride parade and thought I would just add to this report from 2014. The weather was certainly opposite the year before, leading to an entirely different parade.

The Hotel de Ville was decked out in colors.

A few pre-parade festivities.




And then the crowd was upon us.
















These young people were on the roof-cover of a bus stop. Looked like an accident waiting to happen to me.

[htmb]

[htmb]

There were lots of banners and signs, of course.







Though is was a bit cooler than the past couple of days, it seemed more prudent to stay in the shade.













Thoughts of love were in the air.

[htmb]

At this point, I was in front of Place de la Sorbonne on blvd Saint-Michel, the area where my apartment was located the first year I was surprised by the parade.

[bixaorellana]

Htmb, I am flummoxed & embarrassed that I never saw the 2014 part of this thread!

I've compensated by going through the whole thing twice before answering, to my great pleasure. Do this year's participants seem more exuberant than last year's? Of course the nice sunny day could have something to do with it. I'm wondering if the US Supreme Court decision was being celebrated in France as well.

Super photos throughout -- you certainly rose to the challenge of capturing crowds. I adore your favorite from last year and the 5th one in reply #3, the topless women, the bears, the leathermen, & the last two in reply #8 are stellar as well, just to name a few from 2014. I love the way you caught this year's parade coming along & the excitement of the crowd, along with some great candid portraiture -- the 5th & 9th in #25 & the little girl in sunglasses, for instance. Also love the selfie group, the V-for-victory one, and the happy girls just above this post.