Despite the downpours, around fifteen people crowded into a small bookstore in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. On the tables, a book with a purple cover is the object of all attention, entitled The transphobic lobby. Maud Royer, president of the Tous des femmes association, came to present this “little critical encyclopedia”, designed as a response to Transmania. 20 Minutes met her.
Why write today about what you call the “transphobic lobby”?
Maud Royer: We are in a period in France where there is a resurgence of transphobic ideas. In the media and in the political agenda, these speeches are given a very important, unprecedented place. Since the discussions around equal marriage in 2012, we have not had debates of this magnitude. However, it’s a question that comes out of nowhere: our rights have not evolved in recent years, but since 2020 we have had offensive groups and unprecedented legislative proposals in the Senate against trans people.
Who makes up this lobby and who are its relays?
MR: These are certain sectors of the extreme right and other actors who have allied and organized recently, coming from diverse backgrounds. Initially, there are people from feminism in 2020, because the feminist movement in France is largely non-transphobic and has not left room for them. Then there are reactionaries organized around the Little Mermaid Observatory, which brings together doctors, psychoanalysts who fight the rights of trans children, and Ypomonie, an association of parents who oppose the transition of their children.
More recently, the subject has arrived in the political field with more classic actors of the extreme right, organized around Eric Zemmour. They then took away the entire political right, first the RN then LR. Which gave rise to the bill in the Senate aimed at prohibiting access to care for trans minors, a proposal which is based on a report written by the Little Mermaid Observatory, whose members have little scientific recognition. All these actors, scattered in 2021, have come together and organized over the past two years.
Several senators who voted in favor of this bill are also members of Michel Barnier’s government. Can trans people fear a decline in their rights?
MR: Fear yes, but all is not lost. The government does not have a majority and will have to compose, find majorities on each of its texts. Parliament can therefore oppose this government’s attempts to roll back our rights, and even conquer new rights. The Macronist bloc, which has often said it is sensitive to LGBT+ issues, has the responsibility on its shoulders to ensure this and to confront the right-wing bloc with its contradictions. The balance of political power will be essential and our mobilization can change it.
At the end of your book, you mention levers to counter this transphobic lobby…
MR: There are several response strategies. First on the political level, we are making progress on the diversion of civil status. There is room to make a major law in favor of trans people, it was in the NFP program, the future is open on this issue. Then, beyond access to employment or housing, one of the cruxes of discrimination is access to health.
Thanks to militant struggles around HIV, we have a health system in France which fortunately leaves a little space for the patient. Support for trans people is progressing; they have recently had access to a specific Health Insurance window. It is a fight that must and will continue, unless we move towards political bans. Finally, the daily work of welcoming, listening, supporting and raising awareness of associations has radically changed the lives of trans people in recent years.