Voluntary fire in front of a gay bar in Perpignan, Saturday after the qualification of Morocco

A group of young people set fire to three cars in front of the Backstage bar on the evening of Saturday December 10, 2022, just following Morocco qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup.

In the euphoria of the Moroccan victory on Saturday December 10, 2022, several outbursts were noted during the gatherings of supporters.

In Perpignan, the Backstage gay bar was the target of an arson attack. Three cars parked just in front of the bar were set on fire, including the one used by Enzo Anglade and Alain Lassept, the two co-managers to supply the bar. Luckily no one was hurt even though the group of young people who started the fire tried to throw plastic chairs at the bartender.

Three cars were set on fire outside a gay bar in Perpignan on Saturday December 10 following Morocco’s victory.
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© Backstage – Enzo Anglade and Alain Lassept

That evening, the Backstage did not open its doors. The DJ and the bartenders went home, at the request of Enzo Anglade. “We didn’t have the head to welcome people”he confides.

Of the eight people identified by surveillance cameras, six of them were arrested in which only one would be of age.

This is not the first time that the co-managers of the bar have witnessed and been victims of violence, particularly in the context of the World Cup. This was already the case last Tuesday, when Morocco had just qualified for the quarter-finals, as they explain on their Facebook page.

“Tuesday following the Morocco match, our concerns proved to be true when around thirty young people, according to passers-by, literally besieged the bar at the start of the service for nearly a quarter of an hour, banging on the door, swinging firecrackers on this one, climbing on the bar car and then seeing that we didn’t open the door by breaking the windshield and a mirror of it.”

We expected new violence but not to see our car burn

However, the number of violence and intimidation attempts has been growing for several years now, according to Enzo Anglade. For him, the fire on Saturday is an additional act of homophobic violence.

Seeing the semi-final of the World Cup arrive on Wednesday, where France and Morocco will face each other, the co-managers of the Backstage call on the elected officials to put in place a better security system.

Now we have questions for those with the power to keep our streets safe and orderly. How should we govern? Should we admit defeat and flee? Should we police ourselves? Do you finally intend to clean up the city of Rosemary where all these scum come from? On Wednesday, will we be entitled during the France-Morocco match to greater protection?

Enzo Anglade and Alain Lassept, Backstage managers.

Now in contact with the prefect, the prosecutor and the district mayor, the two managers ask that a police team be present around the establishment, from the end of the match until one o’clock in the morning.