Manifestations of solidarity and support continue to hit the web and social media after the tragic event which unfolded in Paris on the 7th of January. Charlie Hebdo is a French weekly newspaper collecting cartoons, reports and satirical jokes with a non-conformist tone. Openly anti-religious and left-wing, the newspaper dealt with many of the most delicate and hot breaking news. The editorial staff of the famous French weekly newspaper was the target of the gun massacre devised by two masked gunmen. The authors of this tragedy busted into the newspaper’s headquarters and killed twelve innocent people, among them Stephane Charbonnier and Jean Cabut.
J. Cabu‘s and Charlie Hebdo staff‘s fight for freedom dramatically ended under the blanket of an outrageous attack that shook public opinion at an international level. Whilst their fight tragically came to an end, it is not over, the fight continues in those who still believe in freedom of speech and still continue the struggle in their name. In support of liberty and equality, LGL joins the statements of the Fédération Total Respect, a federation gathering 22 French and International organizations protecting diversity and promoting equality. The Fédération Total Respect yesterday in its press release took a strong position against all kind of hate crimes and manifestations, whether Islamophobic, racist, homophobic and targeting freedom of speech. With the words Je suis Charlie (literally translated as I am Charlie), LGL expresses its solidarity to the victims of the tragedy and all its indignation and dismay for this dramatic act of violence against freedom of expression. On behalf of the Board and the staff of the national LGBT* rights organization LGL, a letter of condolence was addressed to Madam Maryse Eveline Berniau, Ambassador of France in Lithuania.
Jean Cabut, more known with the pen-name of Cabu, was the creator of Grand Duduche and Beauf, main characters of a series of comic strips representing today’s society. The Grand Duduche, lazy and irreverent high-school student that with the passing of time becomes more and more dissenting with the mainstream capitalist attitudes, was born as a self-portrait of Cabu himself who clearly fully embraced freedom of speech. On the other side, Beauf was born as a work encompassing those figures perceived as vulgar, self-righteus, arrogant, homophobic, misogynistic and prompt to embrace stereotypes. To sum up, Cabu‘s pen aimed to create a set of caricatures embodying the paradoxical contradictions of our society.
