“We are not in a government where the fight against LGBTphobia and against discrimination is something important,” laments Maxime Haes, spokesperson for Stop Homophobia.
The entry into government of Catherine Vautrin, a right-wing figure who voted against marriage for all in 2013, is a “bad signal” for the defense of the rights of LGBT people, associations reacted Thursday, expressing their “deep concerns “.
“We are extremely worried because this person, through his positioning, has fueled homophobia,” Joël Deumier, co-president of SOS Homophobia, told AFP.
Old votes that “raise questions”
Catherine Vautrin, appointed Thursday at the head of an expanded Ministry of Labor, Health and Solidarity, voted in 2013 against the law opening marriage to people of the same sex and participated at the time in the Manif pour tous.
In 2023, she expressed her regret over this vote, believing that she had “missed this meeting which has now become obvious” and describing marriage for all as a “very good thing”.
Rachida Dati, appointed Minister of Culture, for her part warned in 2019 against a risk of “fracturing” society with the opening of PMA (medically assisted procreation) to all women. She also abstained from a 2018 vote in the European Parliament on banning “conversion therapies,” practices that claim to “cure” LGBT people.
“We thought the demonstration for all was over. Well no, Macron managed to resurrect it”
For Joël Deumier, the difference between “the symbol” of the appointment of Gabriel Attal to Matignon, the first head of government to publicly discuss his homosexuality, and “the entry of figures openly hostile to LGBT rights” has the effect of a “cold shower”.
“It’s not a positive signal, it raises questions,” adds Maxime Haes, spokesperson for Stop Homophobia.
“We are not in a government where the fight against LGBTphobia and against discrimination is something important,” he added. “What we are waiting for are actions and for the government to become aware of the extent of the phenomenon of violence” suffered by LGBT people.
On “Catherine Vautrin campaigned against marriage for all (…) We thought the demonstration for all was over. Well no, Macron managed to resurrect it,” he wrote.