*La Parade (notre histoire) / The Parade (our history)*

+ mini discussion(20min)

Switzerland,2001/Lionel Baier/81min
language: French, subtitles: Japanese
site

This documentary follows the process of putting together a gay pride parade in a rural Swiss town.

As it is a small town, no-one in the queer community is publicly out. The town council passes a resolution opposing the parade, while right-wingers take out an advertisement in the local paper publicly opposing the parade. The conservative nature of the village presents an obstacle for Marianne who has been trying her best to organize the parade. The local queer community, afraid of coming out, criticizes her as "too early" and tearing the community apart. At the same time, her efforts to be accepted by the townsfolk are criticized by local activists as "too conservative", making cooperation impossible.

Even in a seemingly-progressive part of the world like Europe, acceptance of sexual minorities is largely confined to big cities. Outside of the city, the hostile atmosphere to the community is actually similar to that in Japan.

There is no scene in the movie where bisexuals clearly explain their sexual identity, and there is absolutely no reference to the problems experienced by trans people. The film tends to focus largely on gays, as opposed to including a meaningful discussion of other members of the community. Overall, however, this is a very thought-provoking movie.