Concert by LGBT champion in one of the oldest churches in Europe cancelled
Bilal Hassani's concert in an old church in Metz canceled
The concert of Bilal Hassani, claimed flag bearer of the LGBT community, scheduled for Wednesday evening in an old church in Metz, was canceled after a controversy within local Catholic and traditionalist movements, to the chagrin of the Minister of Culture, "shocked" by this renunciation.
In view of the threats made against the artist and his audience, Live Nation, producer of Bilal Hassani's tour, explained that he had decided "with regret, sadness and spite" to cancel the show which was to take place in the former Saint-Pierre-Aux-Nonnains church, now a performance hall. "We cannot allow a date that was meant to be a time of joy, sharing and celebration, to become a place of heightened tension and malevolence," Live Nation said.
Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak said she was "shocked" by the cancellation. "Faced with extremism, calls for hatred, violence, culture must remain a space of freedom and emancipation," she wrote on Twitter.
Despite the cancellation, some 150 people gathered Wednesday evening in Metz in support of Bilal Hassani chanting "No fachos in our neighborhoods, no neighborhood for fachos!". Among them, members of the local associations Couleurs Gaies, Les Effrontées 57 as well as the local sections of the NPA and Permanent Revolution.
"We will always form a united front against the far right. We will not let them intimidate us but the state, the police have a responsibility in relation to their rise, they let it happen," lamented Christian Porta, 31, an activist from Permanent revolution.
Opposed to this concert, the Lorraine Catholique collective had shouted "profanation", in the middle of Holy Week, in a message on its widely relayed blog. Supported by Civitas, he called for a prayer of reparation before the concert, in front of the old church, desecrated for 500 years.
"Intellectual terrorism"
For the Aurora Lorraine identity group, which joined the protests, the cancellation of the concert is "a victory". "It is the fruit of our commitment, for us, it is above all a message of hope and motivation", explained to AFP Léo, 23, co-founder of Aurora Lorraine, who did not wish give his last name.
"There is a certain ethic to respect when you organize concerts in a church," he continued. "If tomorrow the concert had been performed in a church with a cross and a steeple, it would have scandalized everyone! In Saint-Pierre-Aux-Nonnains, there is none, but the building is called everything likewise +basilica+, therefore it is a church."
To which the mayor of Metz, François Grosdidier (ex-LR), replies: "Their indignation is not based on anything: for five centuries Saint-Pierre-Aux-Nonnains has no longer been a church. It is a cultural hall which is part of the Cité Musicale Metz!"
The city councilor is sorry that the producer of Bilal Hassani "gives way to a form of intellectual terrorism, to the detriment of culture". "We can like or not like Bilal Hassani, what is unacceptable is that in the name of an ideology we cancel a concert. It is a setback for freedom of expression and a concession made to homophobic extremists ".
The Stop Homophobia and Mousse associations have filed a complaint against Civitas with the Metz prosecutor's office for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, said their lawyer, Me Etienne Deshoulières.
SOS Racisme Moselle and the CGT Spectacle also supported the artist in separate press releases.
For his part, Ludovic Mendes, Renaissance deputy for Moselle, "appalled" by this cancellation, announced that he was going to ask the Minister of the Interior "to dissolve the identity groups at the origin of this intimidation".
The next concert of the singer, ex-candidate representing France at Eurovision, is scheduled for Friday at the Metronum in Toulouse.
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