Tignes Pride: a celebration of diversity

It’s often forgotten, but before being a festive parade, a Pride is first and foremost a moment of celebration and commemoration. In New York in the 1960s, a bar frequented by transvestites, transsexuals and homosexuals was regularly raided by the police. One day in 1969, they dared to say “Stop!” and took to the streets to demand their right to exist in complete freedom. 4 days of violent riots followed…

Exactly! The very first Pride, organized in New York in 1970, was first and foremost a tribute to those transvestites who had the courage to stand up to their oppressors. It’s only since then that Pride events have taken on a spirit of both protest and celebration.

It’s a story of encounters! When my husband and I got married in 2013, Béatrice Leclercq, at the time in charge of the Tignes tourist office’s central booking office, made the trip to Montpellier. We didn’t know each other, but as a great supporter of our cause, she insisted on passing us an envelope containing an invitation for a vacation in Tignes. We refused several times: we didn’t want to take advantage of the media hype surrounding this first gay wedding, nor did we want our image to be used for publicity purposes. But Beatrice is pretty tenacious when she believes in something!

That’s right! By dint of her arguments, Beatrice finally convinced us, and we spent our first vacation in Tignes in March 2014. We immediately felt at home and had a remarkable week. We met Monsieur le Maire. The resort had already been hosting a week-long event for gay guests since 2008: the European Snow Pride. We said to ourselves: “What if we added a more militant aspect to this rather commercial event? Monsieur le Maire was immediately enthusiastic about the idea!

It’s the only Pride in the world to take place in a ski resort, with your feet in the snow. Here, the usual walkers sometimes become skiers or snowboarders for the occasion! Of course, you don’t have to know how to ski to take part: Pride is open to all. Another original feature: the floats are replaced here by snow groomers and snowmobiles. New participants will be amazed!

The number of participants remains fairly stable: between 500 and 800 people depending on the edition. But I’m not stopping myself from dreaming big: Pride has the potential to grow over the years! The fact that we’ve changed the day for this^4th edition (Sunday instead of Thursday) also gives the valley’s inhabitants the opportunity to come and take part, something that wasn’t always possible during the week.

It’s like being at home! People are on vacation, so they’re relaxed; the scenery is magnificent; the air is fresh and clean. In short, it’s a unique opportunity to convey humanist values while doing your body and mind a world of good!

In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the teams involved in the organization and success of this Pride: the Tignes Town Hall, the Tourist Office, the shopkeepers… In 2014, our project was greeted with a mixture of astonishment and reserve; but it only took the first edition to convince everyone! And since then, we’ve been meeting up every year with the same shared pleasure. Some wonderful friendships have been made in Tignes.