2023-08-03 07:07:36
Barely arrived on site, Wednesday evening, the members of the collective Lesbians against the patriarchy saw the shutters of the Italian consulate close in front of them. Representatives of the Italian government in Lyon did not intend to listen to the demands of the rally, responding to the call of’EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Community (EL C). However, the voices of nearly 200 people were heard in front of the institute, braving the rain, chanting “Siamo tutti antifascisti! “, “Solidarity with women around the world” or “Enough of this society that does not respect trans people, dykes and queers”.
“We are here to show our support for Italian lesbian mothers, explain volunteers* from the collective organizing the Lyon demonstration. It’s terrifying what is happening and it proves that we are never safe. There is always a danger of losing the rights we have acquired. »
Compassion and Fear
Since a circular sent in January by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who came to power at the end of September 2022, municipalities such as Milan, Bergamo and more recently, Padua, are asking to erase from the birth certificates of children born by PMA, the name of the non-biological mother.
In the Lyon crowd, Emma, 24, is very touched. “It’s very serious what is happening,” she said. I have both a lot of compassion for these women and at the same time a lot of fear for myself. »
“People are taking this step lightly”
In addition to thinking of Italian women, Lyon lesbians “think of them”. “It makes me want to cry,” says Constance, 33. Before adding: “Try the far right, you can see what it does. It effectively deprives people of their rights. This is what is happening with this circular, but the government is also attacking children born from surrogacy. We see the results of having such a party in power. Russia and Hungary are also mentioned, but Italy is “next”. “We tell ourselves that we are neighbors and that it can also happen very quickly in France. It’s very scary, ”say Axance and Jessica, 33 and 30 years old.
Coming with his wife and one-and-a-half-year-old child, Constance insists on the seriousness of this “extremely terrifying” situation. “We saw it in the last elections, we also see it with the current positions where the ideas of the extreme right are constantly trivialized. We are not so far, in every sense of the term, from arriving at the same conclusions. And people take it all lightly…”, she says.
Direct daily consequences for lesbian mothers
Because the consequences are direct in the daily life of these mothers. As the Lesbiennes contre le patriarchat collective reminds us, this measure prevents the non-biological mother from going to pick up her child at school, from accompanying him in the event of hospitalization and does not give him any rights if the woman who carried the baby dies. The child will become an orphan. The collective and the family planning of the Rhône then underline the extent to which “this law goes against the fundamental rights and the interests of children”, contrary to what the government of Meloni advances.
In front of the Italian consulate, the people questioned would like “a clear position” from France in the face of this measure. A way to reassure yourself. “But we don’t really believe in it”, admit two demonstrators. “In June, Emmanuel Macron showed his desire to collaborate with this fascist government, in particular on immigration issues, by receiving Giorgia Meloni”, recalls the collective. “In 2028, we could suffer a huge setback,” she warns, referring to the “still insufficient and fragile” rights of lesbians in France.
“With my wife, we have already decided to leave the country if the extreme right passes. We will go to Canada or Switzerland, but we cannot risk losing everything overnight, as is the case in Italy,” says Constance.
#warn #Lyon #lesbians