Translation: The Cost of Homophobia

This is the translation that I have been doing over the last few days and I thought I'd post it here as it's easier to share that way, plus it is linked to my Year Abroad... just about. I realise that I could change some bits to make it more 'Englishy', but I can't be bothered right now, I'll do it later. I've had it checked by a French native, so I know that I understood the original article well enough. The original article can be found here. I'm actually quite proud of myself for getting through the entire 2000-word article. Enjoy and feel free to share.

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Dear reader, allow me to put you in the picture. I’m a few days away from reaching the ripe-old age of 21, preparing for my Year Abroad in Lannion, France and I’m wondering about how I will fit in to French culture, especially when it comes to sexuality. Many people might not see this as such a dilemma; ‘So what if you’re gay? Chill out’. That’s easier said than done though when facing a whole new, albeit Western, culture. Of course, I want to go out and enjoy myself in France, but can I do that whilst being true to myself?

Over the past two months, I’ve been doing some intense research into the gay life that is available in my town and by cutting a long story short, I came across the LGBTH association, &BraiseZ, (also see Let Us Be) which lead me to an amazing article. I’ll admit, I didn’t understand everything that was written, but what I did manage follow, I found very moving indeed. So moving, I decided to challenge myself and translate it into English. I promised, as I rightly should, that I would credit the original authors, so here goes; thank you to Christophe Segard, President of &BraiseZ and also to Axy, from Rainbow Brest, for composing this wonderful article and for allowing me [to attempt] to translate it so that the message can reach a wider, English audience.

Right, that was the easy bit. I have a dictionary at the ready, let’s get translating.

The Cost of Homophobia

How do you define homophobia, or even LGBTphobia? Is it a call for hatred, an invitation for violence? Does homophobia stem from ignorance, from fear of others or the unknown? In France today, we know one thing for sure; the hateful comments found throughout this article are now punishable by law. Each of these homophobic insults could bring a fine of 45 000€ and a year imprisonment.

‘I’m homophobic and not afraid to show it’

The original article explores the vast amount of tweets which were created whilst this year’s Paris Pride march was in full-swing. I am not going to be translating them for two reasons; the first, being that I think my head would implode with all the colloquial language and the second, being that I had far too much of a great time at Paris Pride to sit and re-read such awful comments. Throughout this article, I’ll take you on a journey which will be similar to the one which Axy describes in her letter.

Yet, first I want to show you some responses to a homophobic attack in which a young man was tortured. If you read French, the article can be found [here]http://andbraisez.com/index.php/actus/homophobie/900-violente-agression-dans-le-doubs.

‘Now the victim will realise that he must stop this abominable sexual debauchery’

‘Homosexuality is a deviation, a mental illness’

‘There’s more and more of them, yet they can’t reproduce. Whose fault is that?’

‘The sado-masochistic games went wrong…’

The present government committed itself to answering a question which, during the political campaigns, was directly linked to the recent attack: ‘Will you provide a public organisation with the means to fight efficiently against Internet-borne homophobia and transphobia?’ In response, M. François Hollande has been in favour of this concept.

The small sample of homophobia which is portrayed throughout the original article represents a grand total of a fine worth nearly 2 million euros! This is the price of daily homophobia, which was found in a few minutes with minimum effort.

Rainbow Brest

The following comes from the Rainbow Brest association, which works in partnership with &BraiseZ in the fight against LGBTphobia. Axy, the author is an activist who likes girls, boys, boys who like boys, girls who like girls and then also the girls who like boys and boys who like girls…

Homophobic friends, prepare yourselves for a little trip to the country of love, tolerance and kindness, a country with sharing, no violence and many other things which seem so strange to you.

Dear our homophobic friend

Oh yes, you read it right. I’m not like you, but I don’t hate you. You spout out hate towards me and my community, but I can’t bring myself to hate people, even those like you. You know, I like girls and if you roll your eyes as I kiss my sweetheart in front of you, it’s because I love her - not for the pleasure of provoking you. It’s purely because I love her and that love is a really great feeling. And well, just like that, I prove my love to her. You know, you should give love a try, it’s life-changing.

You turn your nose up at us, you talk about beating us up, you say we’re sick, you see us as a disgrace to society. But do you really know us? Do you know who we are? Do you live our lives? Don’t you think that you should have tried to get to know us before making your judgement?

No, of course not. Because if that was the case, if you got to know us, you’d like us.

You would realise that we’re just like you. We have jobs, houses, friends, problems, families, dogs, cats and also fiancés. Fiancés to whom we do not have the right to marry. That right there, that’s the real blow. You have the right to marry anyone you want to and to divorce them and start again. Well, you see, we can’t do that. We have to constantly give everything we have just to let it be known that we want this right too.

Come with me, dear homophobe. Don’t worry, you don’t have to hold my hand if I disgust you that much. If the worst happens and you brush against me, I have antibacterial wipes so you can disinfect yourself. You never know, I might be contagious. Come with me. Come look around my community. I’ll show you the people who run our associations because we didn’t click our fingers to get here, you know. We struggle every day, but we never stop. We listen to the victims of your prejudice, we console them and we tell them that we will never give up. We dress their wounds and build up their morale. Do you realise that your only achievement is the blood which stains your hands?

Do you know the kind of idiots which will be spurred into action by your comments and who will believe that knocking us about is a good idea? Have you seen the bruises, the punches, the broken limbs all because a man and his lover crossed paths with individuals who had nothing better to do with their lives?  Come, we’re going to A+E who sees these victims all the time, and you know what, you’ll be shocked by their pride and their strength, because even if they’re heart is always in their mouth with incessant butterflies in their stomach, they continue to give everything they have, to talk and to point the finger at those to blame.

Look, while we’re here in A+E, I’ll show you the hundreds of kids who try to take their own life every week because they feel the full force of homophobia. Along with them, I’ll show you the deep cuts on the wrist, the boxes of swallowed pills, those who jumped out of windows, the scars which they’ll keep for life because their sexuality is frowned upon. I’m not going to show those who jumped off bridges or those who stood on the rail tracks, because they’re no longer here to talk. Come on, we’ll pass by the cemetery, and if you don’t know what to do, you can help me put flowers on their headstones. It won’t bring them back, but who knows; perhaps the silence at the grave of a 16-yr old girl who shot herself because she liked girls will cause you to think for two seconds.

While you’re here, we’ll go round the town. Have you seen them, the two men holding hands? I don’t know why but I find it really beautiful. It’s rare to see heterosexuals proving their love to each other in public. Do you know why we do it? Because we feel love and because we don’t have the right to wear wedding rings. Because we don’t have the right to justly show our love. Because we should be happy with a so-called equivalent. You will admit that the world isn’t equal but even you, the heterosexuals, have the right to a civil partnership, but we can’t marry. Logical, right? You think, deep down, that it’s not that serious. We can also have ‘super ceremonies’ with the Soeurs de la perpétuelle indulgence[literally: Sisters of Constant Indulgence] (one day, I’ll introduce you to them, I’m sure that a host of men wearing red lipstick will please you) with promises, vows, rings, and people who cry all the tears they have in them because there is nothing more beautiful than a good kiss between two guys or two girls who have just got married. But then you say that through the eyes of society, they’re not truly married… well, believe me; in the eyes of those who were there, they are the very definition of the beauty of marriage.

Oh look. Look. Two ladies with a baby. Come, let’s ask them about who they stole the baby from. You hear that? It’s theirs. It’s their baby. Theirs. They are two women and they have a baby. Come on, look, they’ll introduce you. The child is beautiful, is it not? He has the eyes of his mum and the chin of his other mum.

Do you know what this child will become? An adult. An adult with a bit more tolerance than what you have.

Look, the night is drawing in. You should come with me on a night out; we shouldn’t stop seeing as things are going so well. Do you see them, all these people who appreciate everyone here without actually knowing each other? Do you know why? It’s because we’ve gone through hell throughout the day, to brush off your comments, to struggle to be accepted, to bear the weight of your remarks, so that when we all meet up, we come close together, without question. When you get drunk, you fight and you argue. Yet when we’re tipsy, we continue to love each other. We only do that; we love each other, we love and see a friendship in each new meeting and one more reason to keep fighting for all that I’ve shown you. 

Wait, I’ve not finished. Come with me and we’ll see all the people who, voluntarily, with all their heart and free time, keep our associations running. I will show you them, the crazy ones who write articles at 3am, those who plan future events, those who spend their life on the phone giving a shoulder to cry on for those who need to be heard. Each person you point your finger at, their body covered in your spit will look for help during all hours of the night – they will find us. We fight so that this person knows who to call, and especially so that they know that their fight is also our fight.

You know, us, the queers, the butches, the lesbos, the homos, the trans, the drag queens, the bisexuals, when one of us falls from your hits, the whole community cries, without exceptions. When you shoot one of us, we all fall down. And, each time, it is us who stands up with more strength, because each added name to the memorial wall is another name for which we will win this battle, for which all of us will defy you, for which we will achieve equality.

Because tomorrow, when your son introduces you to his lover, you will think of his happiness.

Because tomorrow, when your daughter gets married to another woman, you will cry because they are wonderful and because you are so proud of them that you want to tell the whole world.

Because tomorrow, you will come to boost the numbers in the Pride March because we personify love, nothing but love.

Because tomorrow, when we will all be in the streets shouting for joy because we will have the right to marry, because we’ll have the right to have children, you will be with us to toast the champagne.

And because, I don’t hate you, even if you haven’t understood anything today. I pity you. You miss out on the most beautiful things which life has to offer. Joy, beauty, pleasure, happiness, sharing, courage, pride. And love, of course.

Sincerely,

Axy.

P.S In fact, you can tell your homophobic friends that even if you shout loudly, we will sing loud than you. Always.

We will never let go of anything

This article is dedicated to all the victims of homophobia over the years, those who knew how to fight it, those who suffered physically and psychologically and those who fell under Hate’s bullets and punches. Never will we forget you or cut our losses but wherever you are, know that we will never resign and never will we admit defeat.