The Minister of Culture reacted this Thursday on France Inter to the cancellation of the artist’s concert in an old basilica in the center of Metz, following threats from radical Catholics.
Asked this Thursday about France Inter on the cancellation of the concert of Bilal Hassani in an old basilica following threats from radical Catholics, the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak said she was “very concerned” by “the attacks” that the singer is undergoing .
The former candidate for France at Eurovision was to perform Wednesday evening in the former basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains in the center of Metz, now a performance hall.
But faced with the controversy caused by the announcement of this concert within local Catholic and traditionalist movements, the production had taken the decision to cancel the show.
“These attacks against Bilal Hassani are neither more nor less homophobic attacks, transphobic attacks. It is the hatred of everything that comes close to the queer universe. social networks”, assured Rima Abdul Malak at the microphone of France Inter.
“This basilica is no longer a church”
When the announcement of the arrival of Bilal Hassani in Metz, the collective Lorraine Catholique, opposed to this concert, had shouted at the “profanation”, in the middle of Holy Week, in a message on its widely relayed blog.
Believing that the singer’s performances “are nothing but pornographic”, the collective, supported by Civitas, called “faithful Christians” to a collective prayer of reparation before the concert.
“This basilica is no longer a church, it has been deconsecrated for more than 500 years. Already in 1556, it had become a military warehouse until the 20th century and it became a cultural space which hosts concerts. So already, we does not speak of a church in the religious sense of the term” specifies Rima Abdul Malak.
And to add: “We must continue tirelessly to defend in our country the freedom of creation, the freedom of expression against all fundamentalisms, against all extremisms.”
“It’s a lot to carry on my shoulders”
Guest on the show C to you on France 5 a few hours after the cancellation of his concert, Bilal Hassani said he was “a little tired” of being the target of attacks and threats for all these years.
“I’ve been exposed for four years, I’m still a human being, I’m 23, I started when I was 19, it’s a lot to carry on my shoulders,” he said during the show.
The mayor of Metz, François Grosdidier (ex-LR) was sorry that the producer of Bilal Hassani “gives in to a form of intellectual terrorism, to the detriment of culture”. “It is unacceptable that in the name of an ideology we cancel a concert. It is a decline in freedom of expression and a concession made to homophobic extremists”, he added to AFP .
Bilal Hassani explained that he made the decision to cancel his show to protect his audience who could have been targeted by people opposed to his concert. “That’s what terrifies me the most. There it was starting to be worrying, especially for my audience.”, he said on the set of C à Vous before performing a symbolic cover of the title Let me dance by Dalida.
Despite the cancellation, some 150 people – including the local associations Couleurs Gaies, Les Effrontées 57 as well as sections of the NPA and Permanent Revolution – gathered Wednesday evening in Metz in support of Bilal Hassani. Stop Homophobia, a reference association in the fight against discrimination against the LGBT + community, for its part announced that it was going to file a complaint.
