“Sorry, But I’ll Be in Paris This Weekend”: An American Thinking About the Manif Pour Tous

The second act of the Manif Pour Tous against gay marriage and reproductive rights.

This week I’ve heard many people say “I’ll be in Paris this weekend.” If you live anywhere else in France there are many reasons to go to Paris for a weekend – especially for the Nuit Blanche Festival this past Saturday – because it is the cultural and political center of France. However, I also noticed that when people told me, or said in passing they were going to Paris that they never said why.

I found myself wondering whether people were going to the second round of the anti-gay marriage protests organized by the rightwing, religious group the “Manif Pour Tous” (Manifestation for all) – there is also a protest in Bordeaux this weekend. Rather than speculate on whether people I’ve met are in favor of or against the Manif Pour Tous, I wanted to explain what the Manif Pour Tous is and why it is causing such a stir in France, despite its relative lack of coverage in the US.

The Manif Pour Tous is a conservative, religious movement in France that protests three main principals: gay marriage, women who offer their wombs as surrogates for couples incapable of having children – including heterosexual couples (GPA)—and medically assisted precreation like artificial insemination (PMA). While these are the main issues confronted by the Manif Pour Tous there are many others including the teaching of “theories of gender” in elementary school, the support of communitarian ideals, and a departure from the traditional French family (read: heterosexual). As their logo indicates, the Manif Pour Tous supports a heterosexual, nuclear family of four – see their Twitter profile. The Manif Pour Tous ultimately seeks legislation banning gay marriage (gay couples are currently allowed to be in civil unions called PACS) and alternative methods of reproduction.

In January 2013, nearly 340,000 people protested against these same issues – whereas the Manif Pour Tous argued that the number was closer to 800,000 – urging that the French government intervene to protect the “traditional” French family. The two protests this weekend also expect large numbers, given the efforts to organize shuttles, train fare reductions offered by SNCF, and other logistical aids the Manif pour tous offers supporters on its website. People could also get logistical help via Twitter on the day of the protests. And, of those who could not attend the protests, supporters were urged to watch the live-footage online via the Manif Pour Tous website.

Given the hyper-organized nature of these protests, the Washington Post published an article last spring comparing the Manif Pour Tous to the Tea Party. While the financial side of the protests certainly resembles Tea Party tactics, a recent poll by Atlantico has shown that the Manif Pour Tous is more of an ideological movement, which includes not only French conservatives but progressives and left-wing people as well. When asked how close participants felt to the values supported by the Manif Pour Tous 31% replied that they felt “very close”, 27% indifferent, and 42% “far” from the Manif’s values – among the 42% only 29% replied that they felt “very far” from the values of Manif Pour Tous. Personally, just talking amongst my French friends I can see how split the population is, even within a highly educated group of people at a progressively minded university. This side of the Manif Pour Tous is something that might be even more shocking to the cultural outsider who may assume that the movement is a rightwing radical group coming from the French equivalent of the American Midwest.

Counter-currants and resisting the Manif Pour Tous

While this weekend’s protests are sure to attract many Manif Pour Tous supporters carrying with sayings like “humans are not merchandise” referring to the possibility of women selling their babies to gay and lesbian couples and “equal and different” when referring men and women, there will also be counter-protests. In the past, counter-protests of the Manif Pour Tous have attempted to reverse the rhetoric of the Manif with signs such as this one saying, “don’t touch our gender stereotypes” as well as others that closely resemble the types of inclusive language likely to be found at Pride parades throughout the world.

Even though there are no accurate estimates about how many counter protestors there are expected to be in Paris or Bordeaux, the Manif Pour Tous will not go unopposed by those who support marriage equality, reproductive rights, and equitable treatment of people regardless of their gender, marital status, or sexual orientation. An online petition has been circulating under the name “All Out,” which has received just over 248,000 signatures, including President Obama, calling for the support of LGBT rights threatened by the Manif Pour Tous.

For now, the Manif Pour Tous has focused all of its efforts on the Bordeaux and Paris protests, but if the second act of protests is anything like the first there will be more demonstrations in major cities throughout the country. Hopefully, an increased online presence by counter-protestors will broaden the perspectives of LGBT advocates in the US who may be able to provide solutions for French activists seeking to expose the societal dangers of movements like the Manif Pour Tous.