Etcetera

I am a disgrace to my highly political family.
I’m pretty much apathetic. And lazy.
I have voted, in the past, mainly because I was nagged. By both parents. Different styles, same message.

Mother : “ don’t tell me you haven’t voted yet; it’s 8 am, you only have til 10pm tonight, hurry up and get dressed, I’m picking you up ten minutes ago.”
Father : “ I'm not going to tell you who you should vote for. It's your own decision. Just not for him. Or him. Or him. And no you can’t wear this to go to the polling station.” (This coming from a man who had little promotional booknotes printed with his picture on the cover when he ran for the 1986 regional elections. I have kept one. It makes me proud.)

I voted more because I would have felt guilty for not voting than because of my deeply felt convictions. Convictions, of the left-wing, liberal, green type, I do have; they’re in there, somewhere…hold on; let me look.. oh yes. A bit crumpled. But they’re in there, and I occasionally defend them if needed; alternatively, I at least consort with the similarly minded sort, which is easier. But mostly I keep quiet on the big questions, too aware that my stance on the current political situation is mainly a regurgitation of media or family opinions.

Still, for all my apathy, I have just written a short letter to the mayor of Bègles. I can’t be bothered with translating it right now.
Bègles is a little French town near Bordeaux; its mayor is Green Party politician Noël Mamère.
Bègles is nothing special really, apart from the fact that it has been attracting a fair share of media attention over the past two months; earlier this month the mayor agreed to perform France's first-ever same-sex marriage ceremony, as the first step towards the equality of rights.

Good luck, this is France we’re talking about.

The wedding ceremony took place; scores of journalists were there, rice was thrown, vows were exchanged, threatening slogans were brandished by self-righteous angry guys with deep-seated issues. The Mayor was suspended for a month; since then, various people are doing their best to have the whole thing cancelled.
Etcetera.

The daily paper Libération published some of the –anonymous or signed- letters that Mamère subsequently received .
Even with coffee and magic brownies- fuelled imagination, I’d find it hard to imagine more violent, hateful, threatening, self-hating or downright insane diatribes. Scum put into (mispelt)words. Mostly from men, threatened to the core of their being by the notion of two men having sex – (as usual, women don’t even come into it). Peril of all perils, a threat to natural order.
Etcetera.

Poor Mamère. He has had his share of death threats; so I thought I would also write in – and offer my warmest words of support.
Hey, you can do it too! Email the mayor!

And more !
A bill to outlaw homophobia in France was approved by the French government on Wednesday.
It was!
The bill, which will go before parliament next month, will make "incitement to discrimination, hatred, or violence against a person on the basis of gender or sexual orientation" punishable by a year in prison and a hefty fine. The proposed law was conceived in the wake of a vicious attack on a gay man who was covered in petrol and set fire to earlier this year. As you do.
The bill aims to put sexist and homophobic remarks on the ‘same criminal level as words encouraging racism or anti-Semitism’.
Sometimes, laws change before mentalities. Sometimes, mentalities regress.

That’s all. Next time, I will extrapolate on the merits of Marks and Spencer’s bubbly chocolate bars versus Aero.