Paris , the capital of France has always been famous for its restaurants and luxury hotels since the late 18th century itself . The way food is prepared artfully and presented with such love that one can never forget the taste of it . Another speciality of Paris is The Marche des Fiertés LGBT , formerly known as the ‘ Gay Pride ’. This event is more of a festival which aims to defend equal rights and reject discrimination .
During the middle ages , Parisian artisans were regularly convicted of same-sex activities . But by the eighteenth century , various subcultures had developed into a “ homosexual world ” in Paris . During the late 18th and 19th centuries , they were allowed to continue on condition that they remain private and discreet . But in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries , Paris had g r o w n reputation as the bohemian and erotic capital of the west which allowed the LGBT culture in Paris to flourish . A network of underground v e n u e s emerged for the LGBT p e o p l e , including cafes , bars , saloons and bathhouses .
Lesbians and bisexual women were increasing during this period as public sphere and in representations in art and literature . Private salons , bars , restaurants and café were owned by lesbians and were drawing attention of LGBT and heterosexual artists and writers of the era . There were authors writing novels about their romances and their love . Lesbians and bisexual entertainers and actresses
78 Vol 5
Old Is Gold Lesbian Couple at Le Monocle , Paris , 1932
performed in the theatres and cabarets . One could see descriptions of lesbian salons , cafes and restaurants in the tourist guides and journalism of that era . There were paintings related to the entertainers , dancers and even clowns .
Paris had become a centre for the LGBT culture in the 20th century and was being celebrated with pride . The intellectual and the artistic society of Paris in the early 20th century were quite inspired by this culture and books were often dealt with gay characters and stories of relationships . Paris had gained a reputation for the variety of its nightlife pleasures and for its free and easy attitude towards life in general . This was the time when same-sex establishments were opened and a gay subculture developed in the 1920 ’ s .
Same-sex venues began to open to cater for those who needed a greater degree of openness . Montmartre had been the main gathering place for Parisian lesbians and one of the most famous lesbian nightclubs of that time was The Monocle on Edgar-Quinet Boulevard . Pigalle , Montmartre and Montparnasse were where most of these venues emerged as the nightlife was already quite popular there . This was the jazz age where gay nightlife and drag balls flourished with Le Monocle being a popular spot for women in tuxedos .
During the 1920 ’ s , Paris was seen as a ‘ queer ’ capital although Amsterdam , Berlin and London had more organisations than in Paris . The main reason behind this was more of LGBT quarters and visibility of LGBT celebrities . Paris was not a queer place , rather the bohemian and poen and attracted crowd could be seen here . There was no ban on homosexuality in France and the police were and quite tolerant towards the night clubs and worked on maintaining a decorum between the customers .
But still the clubs used to have lookouts that would help the gay men and women to tip everyone off and there would be only men and women dancing together . During the
time when Nazi had restrained Berlin in the 1930s , Paris had become more important centre for the LGBT life . At this time the LGBT community were socializing with migrant groups and youth groups who were mainly marginalised in the society .
Today , if we take a look , Paris Gay Pride or the Marche des Fiertés has steadily grown in popularity over the years and will be completing 40 years this year . It is one of the city ’ s most anticipated annual festivals , where thousands of people celebrates the festival with colorful street party and it is a platform for supporting full civil rights for LGBT people , in France and around the world . With recently , Germany allowing same-sex marriages , the people of the society have changed their perception towards the LGBT culture which is very important in this era where equal rights are to be shared with everyone living .
Ankit Tyagi ankit @ chiiz . com
A budding journalist , Ankit ’ s work illustrates his passion to express emotions into words matching to his unceasing addiction to photography . As a teenager , he landed to his dream job quite well . He believes in evolving , loves classic movies and follows Hitchcock .