Persecuted because of their sexual orientation in their country of origin, disoriented migrants are once again subjected to homophobic acts in traditional accommodation centers in France.
The Basiliade association and the City of Paris have joined forces to allow LGBTQ + migrants to live in a soothing atmosphere and free from acts of homophobia. It is the magazine Têtu which in an article, giving hope, shares the new daily newspaper of three men arrived in France.
"Having this apartment is heaven on Earth ", confides Thomas (first name changed), a young Ivorian, to Têtu. "There, I was told 'you are a PD ', I was discriminated against. Being homosexual here is legal. " Arrived in France, to join his parents, the young man is disowned by his family at the end of 2018. His father having discovered his Grindr account: "He saw my profile, the pictures guys were sending me, half naked. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. "
The 18-year-old asylum seeker has been living in a shared apartment for about a month in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, in a 70m2 T4. "I wasn't expecting that … I'm very happy, proud of the Basiliade association. This is our home and the three of us get along well, "he added to the media outlet.
The two asylum seekers and the refugee are accommodated in an apartment made available through the social landlord Elogie-Siemp. "The first six months of rent are paid by the Abbé Pierre association," explains the magazine.
Their haven of peace has a bedroom for each person with a double bed, a living room, a small kitchen and a terrace.
In this initiative, a real cooperation is played out, thus the partner associations detect urgent cases, transmit the information to Basiliade, then the City of Paris makes the accommodation available.
Homophobia in traditional accommodation centers
"The idea was to build and set up single-sex LGBTQ + apartments for the most precarious people ", tells Têtu, Noemi Stella, the originator of the project. The latter, with the association Basiliade, is carrying out action research on "the precariousness of LGBTQ + people aged 16 to 35 in Île-de-France." And for three years, she has followed the path of 37 precarious LGBTQ + people.
"People who are unable to hide their sexual orientation in shared accommodation are immediately kicked out or subjected to violence. Discrimination, rape, insults … (…) The idea is to prevent that and put them in a place safe. ", testifies Noemi Stella.
Regarding the three new roommates, Noemi shows the magazine that they will have a "support towards autonomy. "" There is psycho-social support, with doctors, nurses, lawyers, professional integration officers, social workers and psychologists. " , she asserts.
Paris now has 10 accommodation places for LGBTQ + refugees.