Macron accused of transphobia after lashing out at French left
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday faced accusations of transphobia after lashing out at the snap election manifesto of a new left-wing coalition, in particular a proposal allowing citizens to change their gender at the town hall.
The emergence of the Nouveau Front Populaire - an alliance of the four biggest left-wing parties - has been an unwelcome development for Macron since he called the snap elections in response to his party's defeat by the far right in European polls.
His ruling alliance is forecast by opinion polls to come only third in the legislative elections on June 30th - followed by a second round on July 7th - behind the Rassemblement National (RN) and the new left-wing alliance.
But Macron said Tuesday on a visit to western France that he "had confidence in the French".
"They see well what is on offer. The RN and its allies offer things which may make people happy but in the end we are talking €100 billion a year."
"And on the other side, with the extreme left it's four times worse - there is no more secularism they will go back on the immigration law and there are things that are completely farcical like changing your gender at the town hall," he added.
The left-wing coalition's programme includes a proposal allowing the change of civil status in a town hall.
Andy Kerbrat of the far-left La France Insoumise party told gay magazine Têtu this week that changing gender would be possible by filing a request at the town hall.
At present the process to be legally recognised as the opposite sex must in
volve an application submitted to a court, and the applicant must be an adult or emancipated minor.
Reader question: Do French people change their pronouns?
The person must demonstrate that the gender listed in their identification documents (ie birth or marriage certificates) does not match the gender they identify with - this might be done via testimony from friends and family, or even photos. Since 2016, it has no longer been required to reference any ongoing or past medical treatment.
Macron's remarks appeared to cause disquiet even in the ranks of his own ruling Renaissance party.
"For trans people, for LGBT people, for everyone... we must reject all stigmatisation in political discourse and advance rights," Renaissance MP Clément Beaune wrote on X.
Pour les personnes #trans, pour les personnes #LGBT, pour toutes et tous… nous devons rejeter toute stigmatisation dans le discours politique et faire avancer les droits.
— Clément Beaune (@CBeaune) June 18, 2024
"Emmanuel Macron is using transphobia to attack the programmes of his political opponents," said Julia Torlet of NGO SOS Homophobie.
"The strategy is clear: use minorities in the race for power," she added.
His comments also sparked an immediate counter-attack from left-wing opponents.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said: "How is it possible that this man who was elected and re-elected to confront the extreme right is in reality repeating the discourse of the extreme right?"
Communist Party chief Fabien Roussel told Franceinfo that the comments were a sign Macron was "losing his nerve".
"I sense a bit of febrility," he said.
The comments marked a rare intervention by Macron in the campaign, which is being led for the ruling centrist alliance by 35-year-old Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, with multiple voices within Renaissance encouraging the president to keep a lower profile.
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The emergence of the Nouveau Front Populaire - an alliance of the four biggest left-wing parties - has been an unwelcome development for Macron since he called the snap elections in response to his party's defeat by the far right in European polls.
His ruling alliance is forecast by opinion polls to come only third in the legislative elections on June 30th - followed by a second round on July 7th - behind the Rassemblement National (RN) and the new left-wing alliance.
But Macron said Tuesday on a visit to western France that he "had confidence in the French".
"They see well what is on offer. The RN and its allies offer things which may make people happy but in the end we are talking €100 billion a year."
"And on the other side, with the extreme left it's four times worse - there is no more secularism they will go back on the immigration law and there are things that are completely farcical like changing your gender at the town hall," he added.
The left-wing coalition's programme includes a proposal allowing the change of civil status in a town hall.
Andy Kerbrat of the far-left La France Insoumise party told gay magazine Têtu this week that changing gender would be possible by filing a request at the town hall.
At present the process to be legally recognised as the opposite sex must in
volve an application submitted to a court, and the applicant must be an adult or emancipated minor.
Reader question: Do French people change their pronouns?
The person must demonstrate that the gender listed in their identification documents (ie birth or marriage certificates) does not match the gender they identify with - this might be done via testimony from friends and family, or even photos. Since 2016, it has no longer been required to reference any ongoing or past medical treatment.
Macron's remarks appeared to cause disquiet even in the ranks of his own ruling Renaissance party.
"For trans people, for LGBT people, for everyone... we must reject all stigmatisation in political discourse and advance rights," Renaissance MP Clément Beaune wrote on X.
Pour les personnes #trans, pour les personnes #LGBT, pour toutes et tous… nous devons rejeter toute stigmatisation dans le discours politique et faire avancer les droits.
— Clément Beaune (@CBeaune) June 18, 2024
"Emmanuel Macron is using transphobia to attack the programmes of his political opponents," said Julia Torlet of NGO SOS Homophobie.
"The strategy is clear: use minorities in the race for power," she added.
His comments also sparked an immediate counter-attack from left-wing opponents.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said: "How is it possible that this man who was elected and re-elected to confront the extreme right is in reality repeating the discourse of the extreme right?"
Communist Party chief Fabien Roussel told Franceinfo that the comments were a sign Macron was "losing his nerve".
"I sense a bit of febrility," he said.
The comments marked a rare intervention by Macron in the campaign, which is being led for the ruling centrist alliance by 35-year-old Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, with multiple voices within Renaissance encouraging the president to keep a lower profile.
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