What the BBC doesn’t want you to know about the Paris rally in defence of marriage
“I am studying in Paris at the moment and was fortunate enough to witness (and participate in) yesterday’s demonstration. I can tell you that it was an incredible sight; you are sadly right that the B.B.C. has conveyed neither the size nor the spirit of the event. There were three marches across the city, each covering sizeable distances, and the first marchers arrived at the Champ de Mars (below the Eiffel Tower) before the tails of any of the processions had left. I joined one of the marches near what I thought must be its end, but was actually still within the first quarter.
The demonstration has been very well-organised. I have seen leaflets in churches and handed out at stations. Each of the three marches had flags of different colours, so that when they all converged on the Champ de Mars they would create the effect of the Tricolore. All along the march there were floats with speakers playing music and slogans, and at the Champ de Mars a concert was held on a large stage with big screens.
The mood was uplifting and joyful, and I saw people of all ages (the elderly, families, students) who had come from all over France in hundreds of coaches and even in special trains. The police have remarked that there were no unseemly incidents and that they have never seen Paris so clean after a demonstration of this size. I have read that for many (including me) this was their first demonstration.
I think the success of the march can be put down to its unflinching attention to the plight of the child, which is after all the most important objection to these proposals. The slogans, the placards and the letter to the President read out at the end all upheld the importance of family: the rights of children to be brought up by the man and woman who brought them into the world. The march also succeeded by its independence, by the breadth of opinion of its three organisers and by the joyful mood which they encouraged.
A time-lapse has appeared on YouTube which shows how many had come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozjsyvc8eRE
Even this represents only one of the three processions.
This photograph too I think is missing from the B.B.C.’s website:
https://twitter.com/LaManifPourTous/status/290524449487343616/photo/1/large
I think it represents an incredible number of people.
The sad news is the apparent continued refusal of the French Government to change course.