- Title: Red-haired and proud: Redheads gather at French festival to fight discrimination
- Date: 25th August 2019
- Summary: CHATEAUGIRON, FRANCE (AUGUST 24, 2019) (REUTERS) GROUP OF REDHEADS AT RED LOVE FESTIVAL THROWING HANDS IN AIR AND CHEERING SIGN FOR RED LOVE FESTIVAL TENT AT FESTIVAL RED-HAIRED MAN AT FESTIVAL
- Embargoed: 8th September 2019 11:28
- Keywords: Redheads Red Love Brittany festival redhead festival red hair discrimination
- Location: CHATEAUGIRON, FRANCE
- City: CHATEAUGIRON, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001ATPUBTL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of people gathered at the second edition of the Red Love festival on Saturday (August 24) in the western French town of Chateaugiron to celebrate redheads and raise awareness about the discrimination some of them facing in France.
The festival has no direct equivalent in France and last year attracted 1,500 people.
Photographer and festival founder Pascal Sacleux, who put together a book of some 800 portraits of redheads, said the festival's attendance this year was considerably lower but that it was important to host such an event to raise awareness.
"Because it (discrimination against redheads) does not affect a large part of the population, a lot of people don't know about it or just don't care. But redheads know about it," he said.
In France, about three percent of the population have red hair, and like in some other countries such as the United Kingdom, they are singled out for their hair colour.
"It (discrimination) happened a lot in middle school, things like 'redheads stink.' We were excluded a lot, it wasn't easy to live with," festival-goer Emilie Coulon said.
In 2013, a 13-year-old boy in the Savoie region took his own life after being harassed at school because of his red hair.
Between one and two percent of the world's population have red hair. In England, the figure rises to six percent, while it's even higher in neighbouring Scotland at around 13 percent, making it the country with the highest population of redheads.
(Production: Kilian Le Bouquin, Pascale Antonie) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
