Paris Pride took four extra months to happen, and it arrived with a lot to say.

On Saturday, October 3, the Marche des Fiertés finally crossed the city, from Place d’Italie to Place de la Bastille, with concerts waiting at the end. Organisers Inter-LGBT put the crowd at 500,000. The Paris police prefecture counted 74,000, according to AFP’s report carried by Boursorama. Either way: tens of thousands of people, rainbow flags, flower garlands, and a mood that AFP described as festive but strongly political.

Why October?

The march was meant to happen on June 27. It was postponed at the request of the Paris police prefect because a long heat wave was straining emergency services and hospitals, 20 Minutes and AFP reported. If you’d planned your summer around the June date, you weren’t alone.

The new date came with a new route, too. Instead of finishing at Place de la Nation, the march went south to north-east via the Boulevard Saint-Michel, the Île de la Cité, Rue de Rivoli and Rue Saint-Antoine to the Bastille, according to Inter-LGBT’s announcement.

The message: 2027

October also changed what the march was about. France votes for a new president next year, and the official slogan was “2027 : Solidarité, diversité, LGBT+ & allié-es” (“2027: Solidarity, diversity, LGBT+ and allies”), per Inter-LGBT.

Inter-LGBT, which brings together around 50 associations to organise the march, didn’t hedge. Co-president Alexandre Schon told franceinfo that “l’extrême droite et ses alliés objectifs ne sont pas les bienvenus”: the far right and its objective allies are not welcome. He accused it of carrying a racist, xenophobic, antisemitic, Islamophobic and transphobic vision.

Ahead of the march, Schon said LGBT+ rights were under attack internationally, pointing to the United States and Senegal, and called on people to mobilise for a future based on solidarity.

On the day, his line was sharper. In AFP’s English translation, via The Brussels Times:

“Our anger must turn into victory because hateful and discriminatory rhetoric against trans people, same-sex couples and sex workers is increasing.”

Trans people at the front

That focus on trans people ran through the day. Anaïs Perrin-Prevelle, president of the trans organisation OUTrans, told AFP:

“It is important to be visible before a period that is going to be difficult for us, with the far right in France, but also in Germany, England, Spain and Portugal, all with the common aim of targeting trans people in order to essentialise women.”

France’s own local fights have already reached Pride symbols: we reported in the summer on far-right mayors removing rainbow flags from town halls.

Who marched

Several left-wing politicians were near the front of the procession, AFP reported, including Paris’s Socialist mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, France Unbowed MP Sophia Chikirou, MEP Manon Aubry, Green MP Sandrine Rousseau and France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Placards in the crowd took aim at the far right and the Rassemblement National.

That is its own debate. A march that says the far right isn’t welcome will draw people who also want something from the campaign. But the people AFP spoke to in the crowd weren’t talking about candidates. A first-time marcher said he came for the friendly atmosphere. Another said he wanted to show LGBT+ people they aren’t alone and can count on allies who aren’t LGBT+ themselves.

The numbers fight, again

The gap between 500,000 and 74,000 is enormous, and it’s not new: last year organisers claimed 500,000 and police said fewer than 100,000, franceinfo noted. Paris crowd counts are a sport in themselves. What matters more is that, four months late, on an October Saturday, tens of thousands still turned up.

Same day, the other end of Europe

Paris wasn’t the only city marching on October 3. In Podgorica, the 14th Montenegro Pride walked from the Government building to Argentina Square with about 350 people and the line “the real enemies are not LGBT people.” Two very different scales, the same basic argument: rights don’t hold themselves up.

Sources: AFP via Boursorama; AFP via The Brussels Times; franceinfo; 20 Minutes / AFP via Yahoo; gaypride.fr; Inter-LGBT. Photo: Norbu Gyachung / Unsplash.