The thumb and forefinger touching each other to symbolize the two spouses.
Both fists clenched with raised thumbs that come together to mark life together.
It is in sign language that Julien Compan united a couple this Saturday in the marriage hall of Massy (Essonne).
A first for this 31-year-old city councilor, born deaf.
Beside him, an interpreter translates his gestures to the assembly.
"It is essential that they understand the legal texts for the marriage to be valid," he emphasizes with his sparkling gaze.
They are neither deaf nor dumb.
But the bride wanted me to marry them.
"
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A “big responsibility” for the former president Des eyes to hear, an association of Massy which campaigns for the accessibility of deaf people.
He left this post to wear the tricolor scarf just a year ago.
Today, there are only seven deaf and dumb to sit on a municipal council in France.
“It's a record,” says Julien Compan, who remembers his surprise when the mayor (UDI) Nicolas Samsoen offered him to join his team.
"Me playing politics?"
It was not in my objectives.
I didn't think it was for me.
And I especially did not want to be used as a handicapped person.
I wanted to be chosen for my skills, not because I represented a minority.
"
A bluff to get an interpreter
“It's not the style of the house, defends Nicolas Samsoen.
What convinced me about Julien is his energy.
He never stops.
He is a fighter who, by his specificity, pushes us aside, pushes us to question ourselves.
“Moreover, at the town hall, Julien Compan is not in charge of disability.
“I don't have the skills,” he emphasizes.
He sits on the town planning commission.
" I'm passionate.
Already small, I played the Sims all the time (Editor's note: life simulation video game), ”smiles the thirty-something.
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It is this passion that led him to participate in neighborhood meetings, even if it was difficult for him to understand all the exchanges. Until this bluff. “I had sent an email to the town hall to request an interpreter. But I was told that it was too expensive for one person. So, I lied, he blurted out a little embarrassed. I said there would be ten of us. And I was told okay. I immediately contacted the deaf community of Massy. In the end there were fifteen of us. "
If the presence of an interpreter has become widespread since municipal meetings, Julien Compan has to do without the vast majority of the time.
Even a year ago, he never separated from his slate, the only way for him to interact with others.
Since then, she has been gathering dust, replaced by an application on her laptop which allows her to transcribe the words of her interlocutors.
"It changes your life," he admits.
I would like to be accompanied at all times by an interpreter, but this is at the expense of the municipality.
I do not see why it would be up to the inhabitants to pay for me.
It is not fair ".
The elected representative also tries to challenge the State on this subject.
No return to this day.
"Thanks to you, they might hear me…" he concluded timidly.