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SOS homophobie is a non-profit, volunteer-run organisation committed to combatting hate-motivated violence and discrimination against LGBTI people. Founded in April 1994, SOS homophobie currently has over 1500 members, represented by an elected board of 21 members, in 18 branches throughout France. 600 of these members are active volunteers involved in the running of the organisation. Our head office is based in Paris. Membership fees and donations are our major sources of funding, along with occasional financing of projects from local municipalities and the government.

Our three main missions:

• Support and advice for people who have been victim of or who have witnessed LGBTI abuse via our:
  • anonymous telephone helpline (01.48.06.42.41) or online chat where they can speak about their experiences to our trained listeners and receive information about the course of actions open to them;
  • website (sos-homophobie.org) where they can submit their testimony online;
  • legal services who will help them lodge complaints and/or bring a civil lawsuit before a court;
• Prevention work via:
  • awareness-raising debates in schools and universities as well as LGBTI awareness training for public and private institutions as well as businesses;
  • participating in or organising LGBTI awareness campaigns;
• Advocacy work:
  • by calling on public figures and politicians, institutions and leading organisations to implement the measures that will prevent the violence and discrimination against LGBTI people.
  • by publishing our yearly Annual Report, in which the hate-motivated abuse, harassment and discrimination against LGBTI people in France is analysed, based on the testimonies we received on our helpline and website. (you will find a summary of our 2015 Annual Report in English) In 2014 we also published a survey on the “Visibility of Lesbians and Lesbophobia in France”, English version, and in 2015 a National Survey on Bisexuality (French version online).
  • a website for adolescents “cestcommeca.net”, which gives young people access to all kinds of information regarding LGBTI issues. One page is dedicated to testimonies of young victims of homophobia and transphobia.

For more detailed information regarding our different missions, please consult our website (currently French version only).

In order to implement our three main missions, volunteers participate in various workgroups.

Mission 1: Testimonies, Support and Advice

• The Helpline and Online-Chat Group
  • manages our helpline and online chat (helpline advisors receive comprehensive training beforehand)
  • manages the database of services for referrals
• The Internet Watch group
  • gathers online testimonies
  • analyses homophobic abuse that is reported to us in order to demand of the authors or hosts to withdraw them.
• The Legal Support Group
  • provides legal advice for victims of LGBTI abuse and discrimination
  • supports and accompanies victims who lodge complaints and/or want to bring a civil lawsuit before a court

Mission 2: Prevention

• The School-based Intervention Group
  • offers interventions in middle and high school classes all over France in order to raise awareness of hate-motivated abuse and discrimination against LGBTI people. The volunteers receive a comprehensive training beforehand.
  • Advises and informs teachers and educational institutions on how to address LGBTI issues.
• The Adolescents Group
  • manages the website“cestcommeca.net”, which gives young people access to all kinds of information regarding LGBTI issues, with one page for testimonies of young victims of homophobia and transphobia.
• The “Interventions for Adults” Group
  • offers interventions for adults in public and private institutions (police, healthcare, trade unions, etc.) as well as businesses in order to raise awareness of hate-motivated abuse and discrimination against LGBTI people. The volunteers receive a comprehensive training beforehand.
  • offers public and private institutions as well as businesses personalized training courses on how to raise awareness of LGBTI abuse and discrimination in the workplace.

Mission 3: Advocacy

• The Annual Report Group
  • edits and writes our Annual Report on homophobia based on the testimonies received via our helpline and website as well as on the media coverage of homophobia
• The Events Group
  • organizes events to promote our organisation and to raise public awareness
  • organizes fund-raising events to help finance our organisation
• The Lesbophobia Group
  • focuses on specific lesbian issues such as MAP (medically assisted procreation, which is not open to single women and lesbians couples in France)
  • advises and informs the lesbian community on lesbophobia
  • produces documentation on lesbian issues  such as the 2015 survey “Visibility of Lesbians and Lesbophobia in France” (English version on our website)
• The Biphobia Group
  • focuses on bi issues
  • produces documentation on bi issues  such as the first survey “A National Survey of Bisexuality in France” in 2015 (in French on our website)
• The Trans and Gender Identity Group
  • raises awareness on trans and gender identity issues
• The Advocacy Group
  • reacts to events via press releases and our media contacts
  • calls on public figures and politicians, institutions and leading organisations to implement the measures that will prevent the violence and discrimination against LGBTI people.

There are several other workgroups that are concerned with issues such as international relations, racism and ethnic identity,  as well as administrative activities for our organisation.

(translation of the editorial of our Annual Report 2017)

After seeing a decrease in testimonies over the last two years, the number of hate motivated violence against LGBT people in 2016 has risen again. SOS homophobie recorded a 19.5% increase in testimonies (received on our helpline, via emails or online) compared to the year before. The highest increase in testimonies (76%) concerned transgender people. Hatred of lesbians, gays, bi and transgender people (LGBT), firmly anchored in French society, persists and is even increasing.

Internet (22.5 % of testimonies) facilitates the spread of homophobic and transphobic hate speech, which has become so commonplace that it has created a climate of intolerance towards LGBT people. 42% of testimonies concern day-to-day homophobia experienced in the immediate family or from relatives and friends, in public spaces, at school or at work.

How can this be explained in view of the fact that over the last few years the civil liberties and rights of LGBT people have made great progress in France, such as the passing of the law in 2013 that gave same-sex couples the right to marry and to adopt children, or the recent legal gender recognition procedure (but so far with no “right to self-determination”), which allows transgender people to change their gender marker on documents, or the requirement for schools to address homophobia and transphobia in their curriculums?

This rise in more tolerated hate speech is largely due to the discourse of a conservative minority that repeatedly condemns these breakthroughs.
What kind of society do we want to live in? Is it a society where hatred of others is tolerated, or even encouraged? A homogenous society where all otherness is suspect and seen as a threat?

We could also opt for an open and inclusive society where the liberties and rights of each individual are accepted, regardless of their sexual orientation, their gender identity or of any kind of otherness. Then everyone must become responsible for their actions: any word or act that legitimizes and encourages homophobia make them accomplices to the violence that LGBT people are subject to, make them guilty of creating a society of violence and hatred. That is why SOS homophobie appeals to the politicians and public authorities in regard to the rearguard actions they have taken against the liberties and rights of LGBT people, their unfulfilled promises, their reluctance to acknowledge LGBT people as full-fledged citizens, all of which help fuel this hatred. How many young people have to be mocked and insulted in the schoolyard, how many acts of discrimination and assault must LGBT people continue to be subjected to before the political decision-makers will acknowledge their responsibility? How long will they continue to listen to the clamouring of a minority who propagate exclusion and intolerance, which is in total contradiction to the fundamental values of our nation? And all this despite the fact that according to the opinion polls the majority of French people approve the progress made regarding civil rights for LGBT people.

But our organisation also appeals to the sense of responsibility of civil society. Although the media has done a lot to combat homophobic and transphobic violence and promote a positive image of LGBT people in the last few years, these advances are not enough. How many more TV shows must we tolerate in which LGBT people are mocked or even insulted? In the business world, we commend the companies that have realised the importance of fighting harassment and discrimination against LGBT people, but unfortunately they only represent a minority.  The issue of violence and discrimination against LGBT people in the workplace is still covered-up and ignored.

So in these contexts the goals of SOS homophobie remain essential and relevant: we will continue supporting and advising victims of homophobia and transphobia, who are often helpless in face of the violence they have been subjected to. With our prevention work in schools and businesses we will raise awareness about the mechanisms of rejection and intolerance by deconstructing stereotypes, which are often at the root of despicable behaviour. We will also continue fighting for the civil liberties and rights of LGBT people, foremost for the “right to self-determination” for all transgender people to change their gender marker on documents as well as for the legal recognition of diverse family forms, measures that are essential for a full integration of LGBT people into society.

SOS homophobie along with its members and supporters will go on striving to create an open-minded world where all human beings can live and love freely regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Hotline for victims or witnesses of homophobic abuse (in French): +33.1.48.06.42.41

Press: +33.6.28.32.02.50 or sos@sos-homophobie.org

Online testimonials (in French) : Chat'écoute

Other inquiries: sos@sos-homophobie.org

SOS homophobie - 14 rue Abel - 75012 Paris - France