"Well, there are more police than demonstrators," says an amused mother. In Fontenay-sous-Bois, near the Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie college, many police officers were deployed for the visit of Pap Ndiaye, the Minister of National Education, this Wednesday mid-morning.
The host of Grenelle went to this establishment as part of the international day against homophobia and transphobia and was greeted with pots and pans. About fifty activists, parents of students, etc. was pushed back a few meters to allow him to arrive safely.
"We don't want this law"
Outside, the demonstrators repeated the slogan "We are here... ", partly covered by whistles and the many pots transformed into percussion. "We are here to remind us that this is not over," said one protester. "The police pushed us away and gently pushed us," says Myriam, general secretary of the local CGT, one of the unions behind the demonstration. The police took two years of work like us. "The government must understand that we do not want this law," insists Magalie Trarieux, one of the departmental co-secretaries of SNuipp-FSU.
"The minister has heard that the people are speaking," warns Mayor Jean-Philippe Gautrais (Nupes), present alongside Pap Ndiaye. Before confirming to the demonstrators: We can hear you from the inside. Behind him, the drum of pots and pans sounds. "I reminded him that the fight was not over and that citizens had the right to express themselves," says the elected official, smiling.
Despite the noise, Pap Ndiaye continued his journey. The minister stayed for a good hour with students and teachers who presented their work to fight homophobic prejudice.
