A new support center for the most excluded LGBT people, in particular migrants and transgender people, will open in Paris in the Marais district, the mayor's deputy for the fight against discrimination told AFP. Paris, Jean-Luc Romero-Michel.
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Located rue Malher in municipal premises of 520 m2, this reception area, managed by several associations including Ardhis (Association for the recognition of the rights of homosexual and trans people to immigration and residence), will help “
People in the greatest difficulty, especially trans people and LGBT migrants
,” said Jean-Luc Romero-Michel on the sidelines of a press conference on Monday, on the eve of World Day Against Homophobia.
“They suffer violence”
Deputy mayor PS Anne Hidalgo hopes to see this place open in June after a final vote by the next Paris council.
An LGBT reception center already exists in the center of Paris, in Beaubourg, but "
a lot of migrants have arrived in recent years
" in the capital, in particular from sub-Saharan and North Africa, Afghanistan and Syria, summarizes the deputy for whom "
we cannot leave these refugees with the others because they are subjected to violence
".
The new center rue Malher will not offer accommodation but the City now houses 48 LGBT migrants, in particular via 7 apartments in its rental stock and the action of the Basiliade association, and hopes to increase to 72 in the short term, underlined the elected relative PS.
Regarding the opening of an LGBT archive center, a sea serpent of the Parisian LGBT community, the town hall considers that it has "
fulfilled its obligations
" by investing 300,000 euros to adapt a former post office rue Molière, near the Palais Royal, according to Jean -Luc Romero-Michel. "
We have the place, those who want this project have to agree
," he said to the LGBTQI Archives collective, the Gay and Lesbian Academy and Archives Lesbian Cultural Research (ARCL), three associations carrying separate projects to which the town hall asks to conclude a "
management agreement
" to finance the future site.
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"
If at the end of May, at the beginning of June, there is no progress, a solution will have to be found
", warns Jean-Luc Romero-Michel who could "
decide for one or two associations
" in order to obtain a rapid opening "
on the horizon of the end of the year
”.
Regarding Tango, a gay dance hall in the Marais closed since the pandemic and bought at the end of 2021 by the town hall with the entire building, the deputy hopes to reopen in July after work to bring it up to fire standards, before a new closing in July 2023 for larger works.