The Great Parisian Kiss-In

You probably heard about this repulsive event that took place today - Valentine's Day - in Paris, since some English-language sites reported on it. Originally scheduled to be held in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral, the uproar from Catholics was such that they had to move it to Place Saint-Michel in the heart of the Latin Quarter.

The François Desouche website, not known for being apologetic, felt compelled to issue this carefully worded justification, after receiving what must have been offensive, if not threatening, e-mails from gays:

As a result of numerous but dubious e-mails from homosexual readers, we must clarify our position. We did not convey this appeal (to protect Notre-Dame Cathedral from this affront) out of homophobia. It is not for us to judge a person's private practices so long as they involve persons who consent. We clearly distinguish between homosexuals and extremist gays who not only represent themselves alone, but who contribute to the deplorable image of homosexuals, just as extremists and vandals of graveyards with nationalist sentiments contribute to the deplorable image of nationalists.

The appeal François Desouche referred to had originally appeared at Le Salon Beige. On February 9, LSB had posted an appeal to rally in defense of the cathedral, and the Church in the larger sense. Especially after the organizer of the event, Arthur Vauthier, declared:

"This a way of calling on the Church to examine religion and the question of love and marriage between gays and lesbians."

The Church does not approve of homosexual relations (that it judges as "disordered" and contrary to God's plan for Man), but it respects and welcomes all persons whatever their behavior. Which makes this "kiss-in" against homophobia in front of the cathedral of Paris particularly unwelcome.

Strangely enough, the extremists of the homosexual cause do not assemble in front of the Grand Mosque of Paris. We know that in Muslim countries (where sharia law applies) homosexuals are executed!

Note: That is indeed strange.

In reality, the initiators of this gathering know they risk nothing when they mock Catholics. Moreover (...) Arthur Vauthier "does not fear hostile reactions."

LSB readers expressed overwhelming support for a rally to protect Notre-Dame Cathedral from the kiss-in. It appears they won at least a small battle if not the war.

While LSB went out of its way to show that not all gays were in favor of the Notre-Dame kiss-in, I remain unmoved by this. They may have voiced their objection because they didn't want bad publicity, but that does not address the essential problems of unleashed homosexual propaganda in the schools (some even condone teaching about the evils of homophobia in kindergarten!) and the equally unleashed contempt for the Church.

On a related note, LSB conveys some statistics from an Accounts Court report (pdf) on the HIV virus in France and its cost:

(...) two groups represent between them around 70% of the HIV cases discovered in 2008: migrants of both sexes (35%) mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, infected through heterosexual encounters, and male homosexuals (37%) primarily of French nationality. (...)

To illustrate how far down the the moral spectrum the French Fifth Republic has gone, an "educator" named Gaël Pasquier has written in Le Monde the following editorial on the teaching of homosexuality to the very young:

(...) The fight against homophobia is not limited to the condemnation of insults or homophobic remarks. Reacting to insults is an obligation of all educators, but it is not enough. We have to stop presenting heterosexuality as being the only normal, natural and legitimate sexuality. (...) It is not necessary to request from parents an authorization to teach these topics in class. It is nonetheless possible to inform them that they will be taught during the school year. Parents cannot exempt their children from obligatory topics: the fight against racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and homophobic discrimination is part of the mission of the republican school, on a par with learning how to read and add.

It should be noted that Gaël Pasquier is critical of Minister of Education Luc Chatel for his recent ban from the elementary schools (but not middle and high schools) of a short animated film entitled Le Baiser de la Lune (the kiss of the moon). The proponents of the movie hoped to "sensitize" pupils against homophobia. It depicts the different experiences of love, including that of two boy fishes! Not surprisingly, Luc Chatel has been condemned by leftists, including the French Communist Party. (This movie is not to be confused with another movie in English with the same title but not animated.)

The website Les 4 Vérités drew up a petition against the showing of the film to children ages 9 and 10. By February 3 more than 18,000 persons had signed the petition. Again a battle seems to have been won, but not the war.

As Valentine's Day draws to a close, I felt like ending this depressing post with two songs about love between a man and a woman. First, one of Gershwin's greatest melodies sung by an impeccable stylist. The song was featured in the 1954 movie Young At Heart, though it was composed much earlier. Sinatra also released this song as a single on Capitol records, sometime in the 1950's. That particular rendition is the best I've heard. Then the French song the whole world knows, made immortal by the one and only Edith Piaf, but sung here by Mireille Mathieu. "Mimi" over-emotes, but that's fine with me. Enjoy them and forget what happened today in the Latin Quarter.