An LGBT Pride march finally took place this Saturday in Faches-Thumesnil, in the Lille metropolitan area, after a controversy over its cancellation by the new right-wing mayor, accused of homophobia. Except that only a prefect can cancel a real Pride…
“They tried to prevent us from marching. It’s homophobia in disguise.” Among the ranks of the Fiertés march in Faches-Thumesnil (Nord), which gathered this Saturday, April 25, roughly 550 people according to AFP’s count, the spirit was one of resilience. Ultimately declared by the Lille Pride collective, the demonstration indeed took place after a week of media controversy over its initial cancellation, attributed to the city’s new divers-right mayor, Brice Lauret, who denies the accusations against him. So, what happened?
In reality, the mayor of a town has little power to cancel a Pride march. Like any demonstration, a Pride must be declared in the prefecture, and only the prefect can then refuse to its organization the proposed date or the planned route, with justification. But the Pride march of Faches-Thumesnil, a municipality of 18,000 inhabitants in the Lille suburbs, is not a classic Pride, i.e., led by a LGBT association, but one of the events planned within the framework of the “Fiertés faches-thumesniloises” organized by the municipality. This event has existed since 2021, at the initiative of the former La France insoumise (LFI) municipal majority of the city. On the program this year for the sixth edition, planned from April 6 to May 14: a ball and a Pride village, a mural and exhibitions, the screening of a documentary, or workshops. “However, announces on April 17 the municipality on its site, the Pride march, which was to take place on April 25 in collaboration with the town of Ronchin, is cancelled due to the recent withdrawal of our neighbor.
A City Hall Pride
Ronchin is the neighboring town to Faches-Thumesnil. Contacted by têtu·, Ulric Vanacker, its new mayor elected in March under the divers-left label, confirms the version given by his counterpart: it is indeed Ronchin that initiated the march, as well as its cancellation this year. “We had decided two years ago to organize a Pride march, recalls the mayor, who at the time was the director of the mayor’s cabinet. For a little bit of history, I have a photo of that first march, which had remained very confidential: you can see four elected officials, as well as my lesbian daughter and three of her friends who are LGBT activists in the metropolis.” In 2025, he continues, “to grow the event, we propose to Faches-Thumesnil to do a small symbolic march, a mini-Pride that starts from the Ronchin town hall and reaches the Jacques Brel hall where the Fiertés faches-thumesniloises take place. According to some participants, this new format inaugurated in 2025 brings together 200 to 300 people.
But the organization of the second edition in 2026 was disrupted by the municipal elections, acknowledges the mayor of Ronchin. If he was elected in the first round on March 15, his counterpart in Faches was only elected in the second round, a week later, and did not take office until March 28. “That doesn’t seem like much, but it’s another week of delay”, adds Ulric Vanacker, recalling that, however symbolic it may be, the march requires mobilizing associations and the municipal police, who normally do not work on Saturdays. “On April 14, having heard nothing about the march, I tell my colleague: ‘Listen, we don’t have time to organize in eight days, we cancel and we’ll do this later’, explains the mayor, still surprised by the scale of media fallout. I said that between two doors to my secretary, I did not think it would provoke such controversy!” A sequence of emails, dated April 14 and which we have been able to consult, confirms this version: “The march is maintained as it is”, writes the Faches-Thumesnil team, which is told in reply by Ronchin’s team that the deadline is now “too short” to turn words into actions.
Outcry Against Faches-Thumesnil
Confirming the explanation given by the Faches-Thumesnil town hall, the details from Ronchin do not quell the controversy. In a message posted on April 19 on Instagram, the Lille Pride collective denounces “a new surrender in the face of LGBTQIAphobias”, seeing there the proof “that our Prides are political and that the right is a fierce opponent”. The next day, La Voix du Nord writes that “the new mayor cancels the Pride march and receives more than a thousand messages of hate”. Confirmation from radio ICI Nord: “The 6th LGBTQIA+ Pride march planned for Saturday, April 25 in Faches-Thumesnil canceled by the new municipality”.
Without delay, the national press pounces on the scandal. “These far-right mayors no longer hide their homophobia”, snapped the program Quotidien, on TMC, where Jean-Michel Aphatie draws a parallel between the northern case and that of Elne, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, whose new mayor Steve Fortel, elected under the colors of the Rassemblement National (RN), had rainbow colors removed from the pedestrian crossing in front of the town hall, as well as from its façade. “In the North, the right-wing town of Faches-Thumesnil cancels the Pride march”, title again Libération, lending credence to the political reading of the facts. “All of this resembles a desire to wipe away past decisions”, writes the former mayor of Faches, Patrick Proisy, an LFI member defeated in March by Brice Lauret.
Homophobia or petty politics?
So, is the new mayor of Faches homophobic? “I don’t think so”, tempers his left-wing counterpart in Ronchin, who nonetheless claims friendship with the Insoumis Patrick Proisy. A detail catches attention in this controversy: “I watched a report in which Lille Pride’s coordinator was interviewed, and I recognized this gentleman because a few months ago he worked for the former mayor of Faches-Thumesnil…” Indeed, Nicolas Heyn, the current Lille Pride coordinator, was none other than the cabinet director of Patrick Proisy, until his defeat in the March municipal elections. Asked by têtu·, the person concerned denies any political maneuver: “I did my job for six years in Faches-Thumesnil, now it’s behind me.”
A regrettable decision by Brice Lauret also fuels his lawsuit alleging homophobia: the removal of the rainbow banner from the town hall’s facade installed by his predecessor. Defending himself “against a political act directed at a community”, the municipality says it “wished to harmonize the display to respect the legal framework of neutrality of public buildings, ahead of the May 8 commemorations”. To têtu·, Brice Lauret concedes that he “regrets” the moment chosen: “I would have preferred the flags to stay until the end of the weekend and that we remove them afterward.” Showing himself affected by the controversy, he recalls mainly the maintenance of the event originally organized by his city: “The Fiertés de Faches-Thumesnil are maintained, it’s important to say. Or, I don’t see why a homophobe would maintain eight of the nine events planned!” And denounces a political climate “extremely violent”. On his side, the Nord prefect condemned “firmly” the “threats and intimidation” aimed at the mayor since the affair’s media coverage.
