|
The French Gay Community and Its Quest for an Identity, 1979-1983
Philippe Chassaigne (University of Tours)
The late 1970s were difficult years for the French gay community: in 1978 (on the eve of a general election widely held as difficult for the incumbent parliamentary majority), a moralistic about turn led the right-wing government to ban the handful of gay periodicals that had managed to emerge in the relatively more tolerant post-1968 context and to strengthen judicial repression of homosexual relations between minors and adults. However, the publication in April 1979 of the first issue of Gai Pied magazine heralded something of a change. Gai Pied was a militant, community-orientated monthly, run by an editorial team seasoned in the late-1960s, early 1970s political debates. Its structure was sensibly different from the previous gay magazines on the market, with less emphasis on soft porn pictures and more in-depth articles; especially noticeable were those dealing with legal aspects (how to deal with police harassment or judicial entanglements to develop a harmonious, steady life). In 1980-81, in the context of the impending French presidential election, Gai Pied promoted the idea of a ‘pink vote’ and, after toying with various ideas, finally supported the socialist candidate François Mitterrand, whose program adopted a firm anti-discriminative stance. Indeed, when he was elected, he helped introducing some measures, such as putting an end to police harassment (1981) or lowering of the age of consent (1982). In 1983, the magazine turned weekly and adopted a more commercially-oriented line, which was both a sign and the consequence of the liberalization that had taken place; it closed an era and opened another. This paper will be a case study of the strategies implemented by Gai Pied during these highly important formative years (1979-83) to promote a sense of identity in the French (male) gay population.
|
